How a Family Heals the Heart
by kittyface27
Summary: Five year old Luffy's whole family was just murdered in front of him for their wings. All alone, his new brothers Ace and Sabo find him. But things are lonely. Then Luffy meets the Whitebeard Pirates and his little family of three grows. Will his heart heal with this new family? Kid Ace, Sabo, Luffy, AngelLuffy. Rated M for murder.
1. A Horrific Birthday

**Chapter 1**

 ** _This is my first story not focusing on the Strawhats or ZoLu centric. I hope everyone enjoys this one, since it was a bit hard to focus on the brothers and Whitebeards crew. Enojy~_**

 ** _Songs: Happier, Bastille_**

 ** _Length of story: 66 pages (word count not accurate at this time._**

It was a cold, cloudy day at the small city Luffy and his family was visiting. But they were all happy. They'd all just gone toy shopping for Luffy and his brother, Usopp. It was Luffy's fifth birthday, but he didn't want Usopp be sad about not getting any presents like Luffy did. So Usopp got a toy slingshot, and repeatedly picked up rocks to shoot in front of him. Neither of their parents scolded him. The rocks werent hurting anyone after all, since there werent many people in that part of the little town.

The four passed bakeries and restaurants. Cafe's and grocery stores. They were heading back to the train station that allowed angels to ride. Some trains didn't allow angels to ride because their wings could be too big for the doors, and they couldn't even fit inside. It was a bit of an inconvenience, but there was nothing to do about it. It was how it was, and since angels were rare these days, they couldn't hold it against the humans for not remodeling things to fit them.

Luffy hopped on each of the wide cobblestones as they grew closer to their destination. He giggled as he watched a frog jump into a puddle since it had just rained earlier that day. Luffy hoped it would rain again soon and that mommy and daddy wouldn't make him go under the umbrella. He liked the rain!

Usopp continued to play with his slingshot, while Luffy held onto his first present of the day, which was a bee stuffed animal. Luffy was very happy, and was excited to go home and open more presents and eat some cake.

The clouds were getting grayer, and the temperature was starting to drop, so Luffy put on his jacket with the help of mommy, since she had to connect the fabric around the back of his wings, so that they were still out in the open, but the rest of him was warm. The same was done for Usopp, and by then, both Luffy and his brother were holding one parents' hand each, trying to get some warmth from them.

The train station was a few blocks away. They had to go through the shady part of town, but it was the only way to get back to the right station. They'd get through it quickly though, and weren't worried.

As Luffy splashed in a big puddle that was forming over the rain that started to fall, his daddy was hit from behind. Luffy didn't hear the thud of him falling to the ground, feeling incredibly sick from where he was hit behind the neck. Luffy heard Usopp scream and Luffy jolted, spinning around and calling daddy's name.

"Take them and go!" his father said as Luffy's mom took his hand. She hesitated, her face contorted in misery, but then picked up both small boys and ran from the scene. But Usopp and Luffy could see over her shoulders and saw two big men with large knives with serrated edges, coming closer to them.

Luffy couldn't understand what was happening, but he was scared. Mommy was very upset, and he didn't like it. Usopp was also hysterical, screaming. Luffy was just confused.

"Where daddy, mommy?" Luffy asked, unable to see the man anymore because of the corner they'd turned. Mommy didn't answer. She then sped up as the three heard Luffy and Usopp's father scream in agony.

His wife knew what was happening. His wings were being sawed off. Tears fell from her eyes as they neared the station where hopefully they could get help. But one of the men had stopped the chase from behind and cut around a corner, lunging at the mother from an alleyway, knocking her and the two boys to the ground. She screamed at them to run, but both little boys were frozen in fear from the big man.

Luffy's mother screamed as her wings were stepped on, and broke since wings were fragile. They were limp now and she couldn't stand, even if she was not being held down. After she screamed at her sons to run, only Luffy could. He didn't notice Usopp hadn't followed until he heard Usopp scream, too.

Luffy continued to run. If he got to other big people, they will help! He turned around when he heard blood curdling screams and saw that one of his mommy's wings was being held in one of the man's hand, completely unattached from her body. Then he began to saw off the other one, blood pooling on the ground as she thrashed to get free.

Usopp was crying loudly as he kicked at the man to get off of him. But Usopp was hit across the face and fell silent, unconscious. Luffy couldn't move. One of the men approached him, running quickly, finally prompting Luffy to run again, big tears flowing out of his eyes as he screamed for help. But his voice was quiet since he was so scared. He couldn't scream.

Despite Luffy sprinting as fast as he could, he was much smaller than his chaser. He was caught and fell to the ground. His wings got stomped on, breaking them like they had done to his family, who had stopped screaming. There was no more noise other than Luffy's sobbing. He hurt and was scared. He wanted someone to save him.

He turned his head, still struggling, as he saw a serrated knife going to cut off Luffy's small white wings, which were limp and unmoving. Unable to move, even though Luffy tried.

But suddenly, the man wasn't on Luffy anymore. He was against the brick wall across the street, unconscious. Luffy looked around, only seeing two kids running towards him. Luffy was scared though, and tried getting up to run away from them. Run away to get help for his family. They were all asleep and couldn't call for help. Luffy had to get big people to wake them up.

But he stumbled, his legs shaking intensely. He cried out while the blond boy hurriedly picked Luffy up onto his back. Luffy wanted to tell him to go back and help mommy and daddy and Usopp, but he couldn't speak.

After they ran for awhile, the other black haired, freckled boy following behind them, Luffy asked when they would go help his family. Neither boy answered at first. They couldn't tell this little boy that his family had been murdered and robbed of their wings, which sold for hundreds of millions of belis.

Finally, the blonde answered. "You can't go see them again. They are being helped, and you just have to be helped somewhere else. You won't see them for a while, though, so you have to be strong." Luffy sniffled once.

"I can't feel my wings!" Luffy cried. He only felt dead weight on his small back, his wings limp and imobile behind him.

"It'll be okay," the other boy said, who was now in front of Luffy and the one carrying him, looking around corners as they ran down alley after alley, heading into the forest in front of them. "What is your name?"

"I Luffy. I five today. Is my birfday," Luffy said, trying not to think of his family. But they would be okay.

The two boys who saved him felt their faces fall. Luffy's family had been murdered on his birthday. It was cruel.

It was raining harder, and Luffy's wings grew heavier as the rain soaked the feathers. The clouds seemed angry to Luffy. Like they were crying while he did as well. He wasn't having a good birthday like he thought he would. Today had been so happy but them mommy and daddy and Usopp got hurt and didn't have their wings anymore. He hoped that could be fixed.

He buried his head against his saviors shoulder blade and tried to tune out everything and distract himself in some way. It wasn't working. All he could do was hear the screams of pain in his mind.

Soon the three were in the forest, not having met anyone on their way. They wanted to get Luffy out of sight of anyone as quickly as possible since his wings were bright white, and would attract attention easily. Ace and Sabo hurried to their tree house deep in the forest.

"Wow! Thas a cool house," Luffy said in wonder as they approached the tree house high in the largest tree in the forest. "Are we goin inside?" Luffy wanted to go inside! He can see so much from up there! He couldn't fly yet, and his wings were numb so he couldn't even move them, so being up there would be the most like flying he could.

"Yeah, this is where me and Sabo live. You have to hang on to Sabo's back, okay?" Ace told Luffy.

"Kay. I hold on tight," Luffy said, wrapping his arms and legs around Sabo as tightly as he could. Sabo wasn't hurt by this. He was tough and Luffy was small and pretty light, even with his soggy wings.

The climb was fun to Luffy, and he wasn't scared of heights since he'd flown with mommy and daddy once. Usopp was scared though and had walked the rest of the way home with mommy.

Luffy was set down once they were up in the house. Luffy loved it. It was creaky and cold, but he liked it.

"Is like a bird nest!" he exclaimed as he peeked through the leaves blocking his vision of the island below them. Sabo smiled. He'd never thought of it like that, but it was a wooden home high in a tree.

"You're right. I never even thought about it like that," Sabo said as he pulled up the rope ladder after Ace was up and with them. "You'll be able to see lots of animals in the forest, Luffy. But you should never walk around the forest alone. Okay? It's dangerous without me or Ace."

"Kay, I no go in forest myself." Luffy said as he walked around the small room, taking in the sights with a smile. "Usopp would be scared here. He scared of high places. But I not," the little angel said absentmindedly. Ace and Sabo looked at each other sadly.

"When we find him, I show him here." Ace and Sabo shared another sad look. There was no way they could tell Luffy his family was dead and gone forever. They both hoped they'd find those murderers and pay them back in full for what they'd done.

"I'm sure you will," Ace said gently. "Are you hungry, Luffy?"

"Sure! I ate yummy food today for my birfday. It was fun." Then his eyes widened. "Where my bee?! I had my bee, it was my present!" He sounded panicky.

"I'll find it while I go and get food, okay?" Ace told him. Luffy calmed down and nodded.

"Wha's for dinner?" Luffy asked. "I like popcorn."

"Well, we don't have popcorn here, but tonight we'll eat some alligator. Do you eat meat?" Sabo questioned. He and Ace didn't know much about angel culture, since they usually kept to themselves. Which was the right thing to do considering what some hunters did to get their wings. Like they had done to Luffy's family and almost Luffy himself. Well, they got halfway there, since Luffy's wings were both broken.

"I love meat! Is my favorite!" Luffy cheered. "Mommy makes yummy chicken."

"Well, we don't have chicken, so you'll be trying something new," Ace told him, walking over to Sabo, who was sitting near their new little roommate. "I'm going to snag a big jacket in town when I look for his bee. We can't let anyone see him. Not after what just happened." Luffy started to hum a tune as Sabo agreed, wishing Ace good luck. Be careful."

"I will. Good luck with him," Ace said before he dropped down the rope ladder and climbed down the tall tree. As he hurried away from the tree, he's able to hear Luffy ask Sabo if he had any pets.

This was going to be hard. They had no idea how to deal with a little kid. Especially one as seemingly clueless as Luffy. But they couldn't just leave him alone when he'd either get himself killed in some accident, or he'd be murdered after getting his wings sawed off. Ace and Sabo had seen the whole scene from a distance, and knew they couldn't help the others that had already been caught, but then they heard Luffy crying, and couldn't resist going to the source and kicking the hunter away from the little angel and into a wall. No one else had been around, so they did it themselves.

Ace searched the streets cautiously, his pipe out and ready to bash someone's skull in. But no one came, and when he walked to the scene, what was left made him want to vomit. Luffy's brother, Usopp, and his mother were both lying still and bloody on the street. Ace felt like vomiting. He'd seen blood enough times, and had beaten people bloody before, but this was horrible. He had a faint tie to these people. Who they used to be. And he couldn't just leave them here. Hunting could wait. He needed to bury these poor bodies. They looked so wrong with the jagged vertical wounds on their shoulder blades. To be killed over some pretty wings was sickening.

"I'll protect your son. I promise," Ace vowed to the dead body. He then dragged the bodies down the street and to the forest, the same path that he and Sabo had taken to flee with Luffy. It really was a sick part of the town when no one said anything when they saw Ace dragging dead bodies through the streets. What was a family of angels doing here in the first place? It was a stupid mistake.

It took a while to dig a big and deep hole with no shovel, the father now resting with his wife and son. Ace made a grave big enough for all three to fit in. He put the mother and father next to each other, handling the limp little boy and setting him between both parents. Ace didn't cry, but he felt like he was going to.

He stuck a single, large branch as a headstone over the freshly turned soil, and once again told them he'd take care of their child. Then he left, his heart heavy, to search for Luffy's bee and a jacket for the little boy.

Finding the bee was easy, since it was bring yellow and still in the middle of the road, lying there sadly. It was soaked and soggy from the heavy rain, but it would dry and he'd bring it back to Luffy. Ace then went hunting for a jacket, and came across a big man with a large leather jacket. It was big enough to hide Luffy's broken wings, which they had no idea how to fix. Use a splint for a broken bone, but they didn't have a clue about wings. They'd never even helped a bird, much less an angel.

But at least they were numb and didn't hurt Luffy. The freckled ten year old knocked the man out, again not attracting any attention, and robbed him of his thick jacket. He ditched the unconscious man's body and went running back into the familiar jungle.

"No, we don't have any pets, but there are lots of animals to see here even if you can't pet them."

"Do dey have names? I give names good," Luffy said, sitting across from Sabo, a ratty blanket around the angel's shoulders and wings.

"No, they don't have names. If you see one, you can give it a name though. I'm sure they'd appreciate it," Sabo responded kindly. So far, while Ace was gone, Sabo was doing a good job entertaining the little boy. Luffy asked what kind of animals were in the forest. He was told this was his new home. For however long Luffy was going to be staying with them. He just smiled and told Sabo that mommy and daddy would be glad he was staying with nice people. Sabo grinned at him.

"There are tigers, bears, pandas, all sorts of birds and little bunnies. Alligators, big and small fish, and even more. There are lots of friends and foes in the forest. But, you shouldn't go up to them unless one of us is with you and say it's okay. The forest is a big place, and getting lost was bad."

"Kay, I be with you and Ace." Luffy smiled, his eyes bright, as he said, "You and Ace nice people. I like you." Sabo blushed slightly.

"We like you too, Luffy. We'll try fixing your wings later, okay? Until then, don't lay on your back. We don't want to make them worse. Can you fly yet?" Sabo questioned curiously.

"No, I no learn yet. Is hard to learn say mommy, but I be good at it some day!" he cheered. "Dey small now, but I grow bigger soon." Sabo smiled.

"They're very pretty. We have to keep them clean, so no rolling around in mud, okay?" Sabo said nicely. He was surprised at how at ease he was with the little boy, when he wasn't referencing his dead family.

"Is dere a baff here?" Luffy asked curiously.

"There is no bathtub, so we have to go to the creek and bathe. We also don't have an official bathroom, but I can help you down to use the bathroom," Sabo explained.

"No baffroom? That's icky!" Luffy said with a scrunched nose. Sabo laughed.

"Well, it's what we've got. So you just have to get used to it. It won't be icky once you get used to it." Luffy frowned.

"If no baff how I get clean after accident? Mommy say have to be washed before goin' back to sleep," Luffy said. He wet himself a lot, and mommy always washed him and cleaned his sheets on his fluffy bed.

"Do you pee yourself?" Sabo asked in concern. Luffy would have to wear clothes he'd peed in since they didn't exactly have a clothe washing area.

"Sometimes," Luffy admitted. "But mommy say I get better soon." Luffy looked at his hands, somewhat embarrassed. "I turn five now, so I no suppose to pee at night. Daddy say so dis morning."

Sabo tried to give a reassuring smile. "Well, we'll just do what we have to, won't we?" He wasn't grossed out that Luffy had accidents, though he didn't really want their home to smell like pee. But Luffy was barely a five year old, so they couldn't expect him to do or don't do things older people would. He knew Ace would say _I didn't wet myself even when I was five!_ but Luffy had lived a sheltered life until now, and wasn't the same as Ace growing up himself, basically taking care of himself since being a young child, along with Sabo after they found each other.

" _Sabo!_ " Sabo heard and went to the side to see Ace standing on the ground, a large alligator behind him and a thick jacket on along with a stuffed animal under his arm. "Dinner time!"

Luffy was suddenly there, peeking over the edge. Sabo grabbed his scruff and pulled him back before the little boy could fall off the edge. "Wow! A big animal! Ah! My bee!" Luffy called excitedly. Ace smiled up at him, looking very small to Luffy and Sabo.

"Careful Luffy. You'll get hurt badly if you fall over the side, and can't fly yet. Okay? You have to not fall," Sabo said sternly. Luffy nodded to him with bright eyes. "Alright. It's dinner time now. Hold onto my back, okay?"

Luffy had trouble falling to sleep. The floor was hard, and he only had his bee as a pillow. He was cold, too. He missed his own bed, or when he slept with mommy and daddy in their big bed. He tossed and turned before he got up and tapped on Sabo's shoulder.

"Hnn?" Sabo said tiredly.

"I can't sleep. Will you sing to me?" Luffy asked, a thumb in his mouth while he talked.

"I'm not a very good singer," Sabo mumbled, exhausted from today, emotionally and physically.

"Tas kay. Is too quiet."

Sabo sighed and agreed. He didn't want Ace to wake up because he'd be embarrassed, but Luffy couldn't sleep and he didn't exactly want a grumpy five year old to deal with in the morning. So Sabo began to hum a song, since he didn't really know any songs by heart. But it was enough for Luffy, who curled up against Sabo, his limp wings off the ground. Sabo was a bit uncomfortable at first, but Luffy was soft and warm, and he didn't have trouble falling asleep with the little boy.

Taking care of Luffy wasn't as easy as the two thought it would be. Luffy constantly had to pee, or thought he had to, and eventually, they taught him to just pee over the side of the fort, which he thought was absolutely hilarious for some reason.

He also ate A LOT for a five year old. The two older boys wondered how the hell his parents had afforded his appetite and blackhole of a stomach. He did pee himself multiple times, and the room smelled like pee when there was no breeze, but they really had to deal with it. They didn't have the supplies for a diaper of some sort, so they just went to the stream a lot and cleaned his bottoms, which had become filthy from when Luffy would play in the mud when they didn't have their eyes directly on him. They also tried to keep his wings clean, but soon they were a grayish color with dirt. They hadnt been able to help his wings, so they just had him try to keep gentle with them. But he was unable to do so since he still couldn't feel them. They were completely limp and useless.

But the hardest part of it all was hearing him ask about his family, and talk about them happily. Both boys had decided not to tell him they were dead. They were just at the doctors. They never told Luffy when they'd be back, because they didn't want to get his hopes up. It was bad enough that he still spoke about them like they were alive.

Ace had it particularly hard to hear Luffy cheerfully talk about his dead parents and brother. He had seen them, and every time Luffy brought them up, Ace had a flashback of their deaths and then their dead bodies. He left the talking to Sabo when it came to asking when Luffy could see his mommy and daddy and Usopp.

Luffy thought his family was at a doctor's place and Luffy wasn't there because there were too many people and he couldn't fit. He was told that he couldn't see them for a while, which he was sad about.

When Luffy cried about things, even little ones, it was the loudest wailing and sobbing Ace and Sabo had ever heard. It even scared the birds away from the tree their house was in. He cried when he found a rip on his bee, and sabo was able to "fix" it by taking a vine and stabbing it into the sides of the tear and tying both ends together. After that, Luffy was very careful with Kieekee. That was the name of his bee, and he named the animals he saw with equally weird names.

The Tiger Lord was King Toesy because he saw the animal's toes first while they were hiding from it.

Luffy also had to be constantly supervised or he'd wander off and get into trouble, like trying to pick up a fox's babies, making the mother angry. Or when he wandered to a pond where he saw a ducky, only to watch the duck get eaten by an alligator and him almost as well.

Luffy had zero self-preservation skills and wanted to be friends with everything he saw. Even the damn Tiger Lord! It was tiresome, but protecting him was worth it because both boys loved Luffy like a baby brother, even though they lied to him constantly about his missing family. But it was because they cared about him that they didn't tell him. They didn't want him to feel the hurt and pain of knowing his family was gone forever.

Luffy liked Ace and Sabo, but he missed his mommy and daddy and Usopp. He had no concept of time, just that he hadnt seen them in a while. When he asked for them to let him go see them, Ace and Sabo would say no, not yet. But Luffy missed his family! Every time he was declined, he pouted angrily at them, and didn't talk to them for around an hour before he seemed to forget he was angry. He wanted to find his mommy and daddy and Usopp!

 _ **Story is a downer, but has fluff throughout. I literally cried myself while I wrote a few scenes. Whitebeards come in next chapters! Review!**_


	2. Where Did They Go?

**Chapter 2**

This one's a little shorter. Enjoy~

One day, he wanted to go find his family more than he wanted to be a good boy and do what Ace and Sabo said. So he left during the night, climbing down the rope ladder wearing his thick leather jacket that reached to his knees. He followed along the trail he and his two saviors had made. He'd be back after he found his family, so they didn't have to worry too long. He'd be back soon to introduce them to his missing family.

By the time he got ot the sketchy town, it was early morning and the sun was coming up. There was no one around, no one to hear him calling for his parents and brother. He wandered around the small town, looking inside trash cans and behind boxes in the alleyways, wondering where they could have gotten to.

When there were people now on the streets, he'd ask them if they knew where his mommy and daddy had gone. Everyone either ignored him or dismissively said they didn't know and walked away. But Luffy wasn't deterred. He frowned as he stood in the middle of the road, not realizing he was on the street that he'd been attacked on.

He wandered up to a nice looking man with big hair who was walking with a man who looked bored. It looked like a plant sprouted out of his head. It made him laugh as he hurried over to the men to ask if they'd seen who he was looking for.

Thatch walked down the worn street with Marco, both of them looking for some place to get fabric since Izo needed more supplies to fix and create new clothes. He was angry his supplies were going so fast because of the rest of his siblings fights damaging his hard work. So Thatch, the prime suspect for ruining the clothes, said he'd shop for some himself. Marco only came to keep an eye on the man and try and find Pop's favorite booze since he wasn't feeling too good today, and he had demanded alcohol.

Thatch and Marco were walking leisurely before they stopped and saw a tiny boy hurrying over to them in an oversized leather jacket. They both stopped walking as the kid approached them. Thatch crouched down in front of him so they were eye level.

"You lost?" Thatch asked him kindly.

"No, I looking for mommy and daddy and Usopp. Have you see dem?" Luffy asked with a frown. He was getting frustrated that no one knew where his family was. It wasn't like they were hard to miss!

"What do they look like?" Thatch asked kindly. He'd always liked kids, and wasn't around them much anymore.

"Mommy is pretty and daddy is strong and Usopp has a long nose," Luffy said, trying to be helpful.

"Can you describe them some more?"

"Dey all have wings, but no one see dem even dough is easy to see dem!" Luffy exclaimed.

Marco and Thatch were surprised, but then looked to the little boy's massive jacket. "Are you an angel?" Luffy gave him blank stare.

"I not suppose to say yes," Luffy replied. Thatch looked to Marco. This confirmed Thatch's question.

"What's your name?"

"I Luffy. I looking for mommy and daddy and Usopp but I can't find dem and I fink dey were hurt when I last saw dem," Luffy explained.

"Who did you come here with, Luffy?"

"I come myself cause Sabo and Ace say mommy and daddy and Usopp are kay but dey no let me look for dem even dough I ask to!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Well, let's find Ace and Sabo and we can all have a talk and figure out what to do next. How about that?" Thatch asked. Luffy frowned but then nodded. "Can I carry you? I'm too tall to hold your hand," Thatch said gently, trying his best not to scare Luffy. When Luffy nodded, Thatch reached down and picked him up until he was sitting on the man's shoulders. "Where are Ace and Sabo, Luffy?"

"I no know. They prolly mad at me now… But I worry about mommy and daddy and Usopp cuz dey wings cut off! And we have to get to doctor's to see dem, but Ace and Sabo say dere is no room at dat doctor's place so I have to stay wif Ace and Sabo but I want mommy and daddy and Usopp cuz my birfday was rooned!" Luffy exclaimed. Thatch's face went white when he heard what Luffy said.

If Luffy saw his family's wings get cut off, they were dead. And this Ace and Sabo were trying to help him by protecting him from the truth. It was tragic. Thatch wanted to cry for him. Poor, poor Luffy.

Luffy startled the two men when he gasped and pointed to the gutter. "Look! We mus be getting close!" he shouted happily as he pointed out the red tipped feathers. Thatch looked at Marco, who for once didn't look bored. He looked grim. "Let's follow da trail," Luffy said, patting his legs while they walked slowly own the street, happy that he was getting closer to his mommy and daddy and older brother.

"Was Usopp playing wif paint?" the little angel said curiously as they saw more smears of blood leading down the street and through alleyways.

"Go look ahead," Thatch told Marco quietly. If the blood was leading to Luffy's dead family, they definitely didn't want him to see their bodies. Does Luffy even know the concept of death? Marco nodded and walked quickly down the street, following the trail of dry blood, since it hadn't rained for a while. It was almost completely obscured, so Marco was impressed Luffy was able to spot it. But he also wished Luffy hadnt been able to.

As Marco followed the trail, the blood smears got thicker, now having added dried blood. Someone dragged multiple somethings, and Marco was positive he knew what those somethings were.

As he turned a corner, he faced the woods. Blood was smeared on the grass between the trees, until it dead ended at a semi-wide space of dirt, with a single branch marker at the top of the middle. Marco sighed. Well, at least there werent any dead bodies, but he now knew Luffy's family was dead. Whoever was taking care of him knew that and that was the reason Luffy hadnt seen them or was allowed to look for them.

The man walked back to Thatch, an excited Luffy on his shoulders.

"I gonna see mommy and daddy and Usopp again!" he cheered. "Usopp is gonna be jelly tat I live in a tree house now! And he can meet Ace and Sabo!"

Thatch saw Marco turn the corner and come towards them with a resigned look. "Well?" Thatch prompted quietly as Luffy continued to talk about his family and how interested they'd be about where he had been living for a little while.

"Blood trails end at a grave. His family is dead," Marco said very quietly. Luffy didn't hear. "We should bring him there. Even if he doesn't know what the patch of dirt is, his family will be near him one last time. Then we should find the two who have been taking care of him." Thatch nodded in agreement, and the three headed to where Marco was leading them to.

"Why we stop here?" Luffy asked as he and the two men faced the large grave. "Where mommy and daddy and Usopp?"

"Well, we haven't found them, and the trail of paint ends here. Now, where are Ace and Sabo?" Thatch asked, sounding flat as he stared at the grave, unnoticed by the little angel on his shoulders.

"Ace and Sabo live in da woods in a tree house. Is fun and I pee over da edge," Luffy said with a giggle. Thatch couldn't help but smile. Luffy was really cute, if you didn't pay attention to how terrible this situation was. What did Thatch get them into? But he wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he had just left Luffy wandering around the street full of creeps, who were unnoticed by the little boy.

They didn't have to wonder where the other two boys were too long before they came running down the trail from the direction behind the small group, shouting for Luffy.

"Ace, Sabo!" Luffy cheered happily, turned around on Thatch's shoulders. Both boys glared at him.

"What were you thinking! Going to town alone, _through the forest?!_ " Ace exploded, making Luffy pout.

"I looking for mommy and daddy and Usopp! You no let me look and I miss dem so I find dem myself if you no help," Luffy said grumpily. Ace's face fell. Sabo looked sadly at Luffy, and then turned his eyes to the other two men.

"Give Luffy back," Sabo snarled, feeling and sounding fiercely protective. The tone of his voice surprised him. Ace, too. It had only been two short weeks, but they were completely attached to Luffy. If Luffy's family was alive, and they reunited, it would be hard for both boys to see him go.

Luffy was a handful, and could be a pain sometimes, but it had given the brothers something to live for. Not just to survive, but to live. Both boys had had terrible home lives, and had run away, dead to the world. They did what they had to survive, even killing. But Luffy came, freshly traumatized and alone, and Ace and Sabo couldn't just leave the little boy to die and get his own wings cut off. They wanted to keep Luffy smiling, which was why they hid his family's death from him.

When Thatch lowered himself so Luffy could get down, Ace shot forward and stepped in front of Luffy. Sabo pulled Luffy away from the two men and hugged him, glaring defensively at them. Luffy pouted.

"Dey are nice people, no glare at dem," Luffy said to Sabo, who sighed, his glare disappearing but still giving them a look saying "come towards Luffy and you die".

Marco surprised everyone, even Thatch, by being the one to break the uncomfortable silence. "You should tell him."

"You don't know anything! Don't talk like you know what's best for Luffy," Ace growled. Luffy just looked confused. Were they keeping a secret from him?

"I know enough to know you need to stop pretending and tell him the truth before the next time he runs away and has his wings cut off as well," Marco said with a hard tone of voice. Ace and Sabo's glares loosened a bit.

"What?" Luffy questioned. Thatch crouched down and gave him a warm smile. He wasn't going to be the one to tell the boy, but he wanted to still be seen as a nice and trustworthy man.

"No. We can't tell him," Sabo said, his voice shaking.

"Then you will lie forever?" Marco countered coldly. Sabo and Ace faltered and looked at each other, sharing something without words. It was defeat. Their lies had become sloppy, even though Luffy believed most of them.

"What's goin on?" Luffy questioned, confused with the tense air around the group.

"Luffy… you won't ever see mommy and daddy and Usopp again," Ace said before Sabo could stop him. But now that Ace had said that, they couldn't take it back and had to continue.

"Why not?"

"They are gone. You can never see them again," Ace told him softly and sadly.

"Where did dey go? I can find dem and we can be togefer again!" Sabo walked up to Luffy and gently took his little hands into his own.

"They are no longer on this world. They have gone to a happier place," Sabo said softly. Luffy looked devastated.

"Why did they leave wifout me? Wha I do wrong? Dey woun't leave me alone!" Luffy cried, big tears running down his face. He couldn't comprehend what the two boys meant, but he wanted to see his family again.

"They had no choice, Luffy," Ace said. "They didn't want to leave you on purpose. Just know that they are in a happy place, even though I know they must miss you dearly."

"No! Dey woun't just leave me!" Luffy said angrily. His mommy and daddy would never leave him alone! And Usopp wouldn't go anywhere without him either. Why were Ace and Sabo lying to him? "You lie!"

"Luffy, do you know what death is?" Sabo asked. Luffy looked clueless and shook his head. "Death is when someone or something leaves this world. Their body may still be here, but their soul is not. Death is permanent, and no one likes facing it. But your mommy and daddy protected you to their deaths. I know they didn't leave you on purpose. And it wasn't your fault. Bad men took them from you.

"They will never come back."

Luffy's face scrunched up and he began to sob and wail loudly, crouching down and curling in on himself while he cried.

"C- can I death, too? I wanna go wif dem! I no wanna be alone!" he sobbed. Ace and Sabo surrounded him with a hug.

"You have to live, Luffy. They wouldn't want you to give up, even if they got to see you again. Maybe someday, when you're old and ready to pass, you could reunite with them. But only when you are older. You have to grow up and be the kind of man they'd be proud of," Sabo said softly. "You will never be alone."

"Me and Sabo can be your new family if you want. We will protect you and never leave you alone. We didn't tell you because we didn't want to hurt you. But now you know, you can't run off to look for mommy and daddy and Usopp, because you will never find them." Luffy continued to sob.

"We'll be your new brothers. We can _never_ replace Usopp in a _million years_ , but we will live with you as your new brothers. We love you, so stay with us, okay?" Sabo hugged him tightly. Luffy just nodded against Sabo's tear soaked shirt sleeve.

The three boys had completely forgotten about Marco and Thatch, the latter crying silently as he watched the depressing scene.

"You have to live for them, Luffy. And yourself. Your family will watch over you forever, even if you can't see them, I'm sure they're watching," Sabo said softly, running his hand through Luffy's dirty hair. Luffy rubbed his red eyes with his small fists, sniffling uncontrollably, trying his best not to cry. If mommy and daddy were watching him, they didn't want to see him cry. It would make them sad.

Ace pat Luffy's back softly while Sab turned to Thatch and Marco. "Thanks," he said simply. "Are you ready to go, Luffy?" the blonde said as he gently took the hand that Ace wasn't already holding. Luffy nodded, looking at his feet, but holding his new family's hands tightly.

"Wait."

The three boys turned to look behind themselves. Luffy was still crying softly but quietly, which Ace and Sabo were looking at Thatch in expectation, as was the other man.

"What?" Ace snapped. He wanted to get away from this grave he'd had to dig and cover as fast as possible. Away from the bodies of Luffy's family so close to him.

"If Luffy wants, we can give his parents and brother a proper send off. A little memorial, if you'd like," Thatch offered softly.

"What do you have in mind?" Ace asked.

 _Review!_


	3. The Whitebeard Pirates

_Enjoy~_

The rest of the Whitebeard Pirates crew looked at Thatch and Marco strangely as they collected candles and lowered a row boat down into the calm water from their big ship. Thatch didn't look in the eyes of any of his brothers while he gathered what they needed to pay respects to the little boy he'd befriended's passed family.

Even Whitebeard said nothing, didn't ask either Marco or Thatch. He wasn't going to stop or interrupt whatever could fix that broken expression on his son's face. Marco said nothing to anyone as well. Whitebeard would ask them later. Thatch was determined to do whatever he was doing, and his father knew that Thatch would still do it, no matter if the captain protested.

Luffy and his brothers stood at the start of the long deck, waiting to be picked up on the boat the two men were to bring. The harbor was cold and empty other than the two boys and their little angel brother. They each grasped one of Luffy's small hands securely. Luffy was perpetually on the verge of tears, but was trying to calm himself as best as he could.

The Whitebeard Pirates ship was massive. It was quite intimidating to Ace and Sabo. Luffy, though still very upset, thought it was amazing. It was so big that he could play hide-and-go-seek with Uso-... _Ace_ and _Sabo._ Luffy wanted to go and visit it in person.

"I wanna go see it," Luffy said quietly while the three waited for the small rowboat they could now see came over to them.

"It's a pirate ship. Pirates are dangerous," Sabo said patiently.

"Like death?" Luffy could pronounce this one word, where other words with the "th" sound were not correct.

"Yes, pirates can cause death. It's best to stay away from ships with black flags. See?" Sabo explained while pointing at the tip of the masts. "You, especially, Luffy, should stay away from pirates. They like treasure, and your wings are priceless."

"Like when mommy and daddy and Usopp's wings got took?" the angel asked quietly.

"Exactly."

Once the rowboat was near the start of the dock, Luffy, Ace and Sabo walked to it and got in, Ace lowering Luffy onto it slowly. Sabo directed Thatch and Marco to a nice secluded area of the island, which had a clear view of the sea, no ships or boats visible for as far as you could see. No one said anything to each other as they slowly made their way around the coast. Luffy was looking over the side and into the clear water. He wondered if there were alligators, but all he saw were different types of fish and the pretty colored rocks below.

"Here it is," Sabo said, breaking the silence. The three boys then looked to the adults, waiting for what to do next. The boat swayed a tiny bit when Marco turned to the side and got the little paper lanterns with single candles on the inside. There were three; one for Usopp, mommy, and daddy.

"Luffy, these little candles represent mommy, daddy and Usopp. When you light one, and send it into the water, your sending it to the unknown with a blessing. Your sending at away with love. So, light each one, and let it float away," Thatch explained, lighting a match and letting Luffy light the wicks of the small candles, setting all three in the water gently. They floated in front of him for a few moments before the slow current caught them and the little paper lanterns floated away together. Luffy couldn't help but start sobbing again as he watched those that represented his lost family disappear from his sight. Ace and Sabo comforted him as best as they could.

The five stayed in that one place, even once the distance had swallowed the little candles that were no longer visible. It was quiet besides the light _slosh_ noise as the water lead their little boat to float a bit to the side.

"Thank you," Sabo said to the two men. They both nodded to him in response.

"I wish we could have done more," Thatch said softly. Ace sighed, looking to the side at Sabo.

"So do we…"

Luffy stayed silent, his tears dried, as he looked at the water in front of him. Being out here was nice. The breeze felt good, and the little swaying of the boat and the smell relaxed him. The sound of the water and the seagulls above made him happy.

"I like dis…" he mumbled, mostly to himself.

"Like what, Luffy?" Ace asked quietly. Luffy looked up at the sky.

"I like da smell and da move of da boat and da sounds. Wind, too. Make me sleepy," the little angel clarified. Both pirates had soft smiles on their faces.

"It does feel pretty good," Sabo agreed. "Can we keep this boat? So we can come and do this again?"

Instead of replying to Sabo's question, Thatch asked, "Where do you guys live?"

"In a tree," Ace replied, looking at Luffy's relaxed face with a smile. Maybe going out on this boat could be a kind of therapy for the boy. It wasn't going to just get better overnight. His whole family was dead. Of course it should take time for him to feel better. Ace and Sabo had never lost anyone dear to them, so they could only try to sympathize with Luffy.

"Would you want to live on a boat?" Thatch asked. Marco looked at him oddly. Was Thatch doing what he thought he was doing? Without even asking Pops?

"I no know. I jus' wanna go to sleep," Luffy said, sounding and feeling down. "I want my bee," he added.

Sabo and Ace looked at Thatch curiously, but also suspiciously. "Why do you ask?" Ace questioned.

"Lot's of us on the Whitebeard Pirates crew have lost family and friends, and have all formed a different kind of family. And Pops, Whitebeard, is the father. He calls all of us sons and daughters. Would you like to know if you could join?" Thatch asked, watching Ace and Sabo closely, curious as to what their answer would be.

Luffy looked at his new brothers in curiosity as the two shared a look. Then Ace turned back to the adults, and said, "Ask permission first. Then we'll think about it." Sabo nodded in agreement, and the little rowboat was taken back to the docks and left there for the moment, tied to one of the pegs.

"What do you think?" Sabo asked Ace as they both watched Luffy draw in the fine dirt with his finger near the edge of the ground and wooden platform.

"It would be a safer environment for Luffy to grow up in. Even if it's on a pirate ship, they'd be able to protect him from hunters. Like his family had failed."

"It would also be better for him. Having a bed, a bathroom. Maybe get a doctor to heal his wings… I also wouldn't mind a bed as well," Sabo said. "But we'll lose a lot of freedom." Both boys looked to Luffy again. He looked so sad and eyes empty. Being on a ship with a lot of other people would make good distractions from his grief. Plus, Luffy did just say he liked everything having to do with being on the sea.

"Luffy? Would you rather live on a ship in the ocean, or in the tree in the woods?" Ace asked the little boy, stealing his attention from the squiggles in the dirt. "There are beds and a bathroom on the ship," he added. Luffy's eyes widened.

"Bed and baff!" he exclaimed.

"There will also be a lot of people on the ship. It won't be very quiet like it is in the forest. You won't see animals much either. Only birds and sea life," Ace continued. "It will be very different. Would you like that to happen?" Ace and Sabo were 50/50 on whether they wanted to move. It depended on Luffy's answer.

"I no like the quiet, and lots of people is fun… I miss da animals, dough," Luffy replied.

Sabo whispered to Ace, "At least we wouldn't have to worry about him getting eaten by a beast." Ace chuckled. Then he turned to Luffy and crouched in front of him. "We don't know for sure, so you may not have to leave the animals and tree behind. We will see soon and figure everything out then. What are you drawing?"

"So you want to add three children to our pirate family?" Whitebeard asked Thatch, who had just explained everything that had happened on the island. Thatch liked to prank, but here he was dead serious. The cook nodded. Marco had said nothing while Thatch explained, but he did have the look of support on his otherwise bored face.

The other members of the ship were shocked by Thatch's request, but extremely intrigued with the three children, especially the angel. None of them had ever seen an angel. Then they felt bad for the little boy after hearing what had happened with his parents.

"I think they would brighten the crew once Luffy is feeling better. I also think this would be good for him. Physically and mentally. His wings were almost cut off as well, if Ace and Sabo hadn't been there by chance. He'd be safer on this ship from other humans," Thatch said. "And… there's something strange about him besides being an angel."

"What do you mean?" Whitebeard asked curiously.

"He gives off haki, but it feels different than usual. It's like, a warm feeling. It's hard to explain. You felt it too, right Marco?"

"Yeah. You'll know once you feel it." The others on the ship were painfully curious.

"I'd like to meet them," the strong, giant man said as he grinned on his big chair. He hadnt met an angel in quite a while, and had never met a young one. He wanted to see these children that enchanted Thatch. But that poor little boy.

"He wants to meet you three before deciding. Is it okay that you come aboard?" Thatch questioned the three while he stood in front of them on the dock. Sabo and Ace exchanged nods before walking after the man with Luffy in the middle.

"Is there a doctor on your ship?" Ace asked as the five walked down the long dock and to the massive ship. Luffy was looking at it in wonder, remembering a ship in a decoration bottle at home. He would never go home cause he didn't know where it was. He tried to not think about that.

"Yes, multiple ones. Why do you ask?" Marco questioned, speaking for the first time since leading the brothers to the Moby Dick pirate ship.

"Luffy's wings are broken from the bad men. He can't feel or move them. We haven't had any way to try and fix them, and we didn't trust professionals. We've just been hoping for the best," Ace explained. Marco and Thatch looked at each other in concern. Thach asked how long they'd been like that, frowning deeper when he heard it had been a little over two weeks. A broken bone needed to be fixed as fast as possible. Two weeks is a long time, and it was disconcerting that they were numb and unmoving.

Once they arrived on the dock directly in front of the massive ship, a staircase was lowered down for the five to walk up. It was thin, so Sabo had Luffy on his back with less of a chance of him falling into the water.

When they were finally on the smooth deck, the brothers were surprised on just how many people were on the ship, all looking at the three. Sabo and Ace were uncomfortable while Luffy was just smiling slightly, enjoying the feel of lots of people around him.

"It's safe for you to take off your jacket here, Luffy," Thatch said kindly. Luffy nodded and shrugged the thick leather coat off of his small frame, giving it to Thatch. All of the pirates looked at Luffy's wings in surprise. They werent neat and bright white. Instead, the feathers were ruffled, the color a light gray, and the bases were deformed in a way. The wings slumped haphazardly down his back, one side dragging a bit lower than the other. Some of the crew frowned in concern. There was very clearly something wrong with the little wings.

Once everyone got over the surprise of the wings, some of the pirates felt a warm fuzzy feeling in the back of their minds. There was no sharp sense of another person being in front of them. The feeling made some of those who could use haki feel a bit sleepy.

"Pops wants to see you three, so follow us," Marco said as he and Thatch shooed people out of their way. Ace and Sabo walked on either side of the dirty angel, holding his hands. They knew they probably didn't smell the best to the other humans on the ship. The three followed behind the two familiar pirates, and the closer they got to the front of the ship, the thinner the group of people got.

Then Ace and Sabo stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the giant man sitting on an equally big chair in front of them. He was extremely intimidating, and they stopped Luffy from continuing to walk towards the big captain. Luffy wasn't scared or intimidated.

"Wow… he so big!" Luffy said loudly. Ace shushed him, not wanting any of them to offend the powerful man in front of them. Some of the crew chuckled at Luffy's comment. Even the captain laughed a little. He spoke next.

"My name is Whitebeard. It's nice to meet you." He turned his gaze to Luffy. "I am not so big, it's that you are so small," he said in good nature.

"No, you big. You more big den daddy," Luffy argued automatically, before his face scrunched up in sadness, but he didn't cry, just had a very deep frown, upset that he'd said something about daddy right then. He didn't want to think about them, because he'd miss them. The crew behind them frowned in sympathy. All of them had lost something, so they understood some of his pain. More than one on the massive crew had watched family and friends murdered in front of them.

Whitebeard smiled at him sadly. "What is your name, little one?" he asked kindly.

"I Luffy." Then Whitebeard turned to the other two boys, who looked uncomfortable under his gaze.

"And what about you two?" he asked in his deep voice.

"I-I'm Sabo, and he's Ace," Sabo said, his voice shaking audibly.

"There is no need to be afraid or nervous here. After all, you three are welcome to join this family, if you'd like," Whitebeard said, a grin on his face. Ace and Sabo's eyes widened. They had obviously not expected Whitebeard to agree to let them stay.

"Seriously?" Ace asked, still bewildered. Whitebeard nodded. He asked whether they'd like to stay, and Luffy was the one to decide.

"Yah!" he cheered, his mind thankfully not on his daddy anymore. "We can all play! Is so big here. Is dere bed and baff?" he asked eagerly. He wanted a bath really bad. He didn't like being dirty and smelly. Or his wings being so ruffled. "I smell bad, I know."

"Well, I guess we're staying then," Sabo chuckled. The rew around them broke into cheers, startling the two older boys. Luffy just grinned and bounced on his toes. Everyone was so happy!

Ace noticed someone staring at Luffy with a deep frown. She looked concerned, and like she wanted to approach but didn't know how. He looked closer and could see the woman looking at Luffy's messed up wings.

"Welcome new sons," Whitebeard said. "Time for a feast!" Everyone broke out into louder cheers, shouting out welcomes. Ace nodded to them as he pulled Luffy and Sabo towards the woman. Ace had a feeling that he knew what this lady was. Luffy didn't pay attention to where he was being taken, he only smiled at everyone who was looking at him on his way through the crowd. Sabo followed behind him, wondering why Ace was leading them that way.

The three stopped in front of the woman. "Are you a doctor?" Ace questioned. She nodded her head and introduced herself as Amber. "Can you see Luffy right away?"

"Yes, come with me," she said, walking through everyone who was still welcoming them, and into the interior of the ship. It was a maze of hallways and many doors. Luffy frowned when they passed the bathroom, showing large baths on the inside.

"I wan to take baff, Ace," Luffy whined. He pouted as Ace told him he'd have a bath later. "Why no now?"

"We have to take you to the doctor's room so we can try and fix your broken wings. It's more important than a bath at the moment, right?" he asked kindly. Luffy thought for a moment before he nodded, taking one last yearning look at the place the bathroom had been.

They were introduced to the doctor's room, which was quite large, and had doorways leading to other places inside. It was clean, but didn't smell too bad, like a real hospital would. "Sit him here, please," Amber said as she pulled a rolling chair over to Luffy's bed. He laid down on his back, but was soon back to sitting up. The doctor wanted to see his wings right away. If she could fix them, she'd do it as soon as possible. Food and rest can wait. This was much more important.

"What happened?" she asked as she got her pen ready to write on the clipboard in her hand. So Sabo retold the story, leaving out the part where Ace and Sabo had seen the murder of Luffy's mother and brother. He said that he and Ace had watched as the large men stomped hard on Luffy's little wings until Luffy was sobbing in pain and fear.

While Sabo talked, Ace distracted Luffy by asking him what kind of food he'd want for the feast welcoming the three. It thankfully kept him occupied and not paying attention to Sabo and Amber.

"When was that?"

"Two weeks ago. We didn't trust going to a doctor in the town we had lived near." She frowned. Then the woman turned to Luffy with a smile, trying to keep the boy relaxed in this new environment.

"Hello Luffy. I'm going to ask you some questions about your pretty wings, okay?" Luffy nodded with a smile. "Do they hurt to move?"

"No, I no feel dem anymore. Dey no move when I do try," he said simply.

"Can you feel this?" Amber questioned as she touched and moved his wings around gently. Luffy shook his head each time. "Alright, I'm going to take an X-ray of you. It's a cool machine, since after you stay still, you can see your bones from the inside. They we can see what is wrong with your pretty wings. Okay?" She had worked with kids before, and had mastered how to handle them in a situation like this. Especially the younger ones.

"Cool!" Luffy exclaimed, following her into a doorway that lead to a smaller room.

"Okay, lay down on your tummy with your arms relaxed, okay? You have to stay still for a few minutes. Ready?" she asked, telling him he was a good little boy when he told her he was ready. Ace and Sabo were moved to behind a dark window, where Amber was as well. The brothers watched Luffy in concern, but Luffy stayed completely still.

It turned out that he'd fallen asleep on the soft bed. The three didn't wake him, but rolled his bed out of the small dark room and into the larger one. Luffy stayed asleep, despite the change in light intensity. As Ace and Sabo looked at Luffy, they were glad he was able to sleep on a nice bed. They were both looking forward to sleeping on a bed as well. They wondered where they'd be staying. The two would make sure all three boys were staying in the same place. It'd be nice if they got their own room together.

Amber looked at the images of Luffy's wings, and frowned deeply. The parts of the bone that connected to Luffy's back were splintered. They were each in multiple pieces that had spread far from each other in the time they had been untreated. But broken bones shouldn't erase all feeling of the appendage, which meant there was something wrong deeper.

She hurried to the bookshelf near the desk and pulled out a dusty and old book about other creatures. Animals and also angels. Since they were so rare, they'd been put in the same slots as animals.

She looked at the section for Luffy and frowned at the muscle and nerve diagrams. The spot that the tip of the humerus to the shoulder blade had a myriad of nerve connections. The doctor brought the x-ray images to the table and compared them to the diagrams. She sighed and lowered her head.

The splintered bones had severed the nerve endings in both wings. They were paralyzed. Luffy would never fly or be able to move them again. The best she could do was make some sort of splint so the bones could heal on their own. The breaks looked worse than they were, and the most damaging part of the whole thing were the destroyed nerves. If Luffy kept his wings in the right places, then the bones would heal on their own.

Sabo and Ace watched Amber's expression as she read her book, and became more worried the deeper her frown became and the lower her brows tilted.

"What's wrong?" Sabo asked, voice shaking slightly.

Amber walked over with the book and Luffy's x-rays. "The broken bones have splintered, severing the nerves in his wings. They are permanently paralyzed. He will never be able to move them by himself ever again. The best I can do is to make a splint for them that will make the bones heal on their own. The main problem is the nerves, and there is nothing I can do to fix that," she explained grimly. The brother's faces fell and they sighed like she did.

"At least this way, there's no real use for anyone to take his wings if they are broken like this. He should get them clean before I put a splint on. Why don't you three go take a bath and have your clothes washed?" Amber said kindly, giving the boys a warm smile. Ace and Sabo both nodded and turned back to the sleeping Luffy.

"Luffy? Wake up, it's bath time," Sabo said, tapping Luffy gently on the shoulder. "It's bath time," the blonde repeated. Luffy jumped up and off the bed, hurrying down the halls, trying to find his way to the bathroom.

"Wait, Luffy! We don't know where the bathroom even is. We have to ask directions," Ace said as he easily caught up to the five year old. But then Luffy had a sudden thought.

"Are my wings fixed? I still no feel dem," he said with a confused pout.

"Why don't we talk about this after a bath?" Sabo told him, walking on the left side of him while Ace did the right. Luffy nodded, back to being excited about his bath.

The brothers saw a few people on their way, asking for directions from the first person, who was a man they thought was a woman at first. She- _he-_ wore a pink kimono and had make up on his face. His name was Izo, and was a commander like Thatch and Marco. The two older boys were worried when Luffy told him he was pretty and touched his kimono that Izo would be offended, but he wasn't. He just thanked Luffy with a smile and told them where to go to get to their destination. Luffy waved goodbye to Izo, making him smile as he walked on his way to the galley.

Some of the other new family members looked a little strange when they looked at Luffy as he passed them. They looked a little sleepy and had smiles on. It weirded out Ace and Sabo, and Luffy didn't notice.

When they finally reached the bath house, they were ecstatic to see there was a very large bath tub already full of water waiting for them. All three boys undressed, Luffy needing help to get his shirt off, like always, and hurried into the tub. It was shallow enough that Luffy could stand with his head above the water, but couldn't sit without going under. So the little angel sat on Ace's knees sideways so that Sabo could clean his wings gently with soap as he splashed in the water, happy to take a hot bath again, like he used to.

The other two saw Luffy get sad and stop splashing, and could assume he was thinking about his family. And he was. Thinking about how he and Usopp sometimes took baths together while mommy read to them. Or when mommy cleaned his feathers until they were fluffy and white. He also missed his bath toys. Would he ever get toys again?

The boys spent over an hour in the bath, washing their hair multiple times and using up two whole bars of soap. But what took the longest was cleaning and sprucing up Luffy's broken wings. They straightened the feathers one by one and washed them each individually until they were bright white and soft again. They didn't know how to dry them, though.

"Luffy, how do you dry your wings after washing them?" Sabo asked a sleepy Luffy.

"Suppose to hold dem out but I no do it now," the angel replied. So Ace and Sabo took the ends of his wings and spread them out in the air. They'd have to hold them up for a little bit as they dried.

"It's probably windy outside like it had been earlier, so maybe that can help dry them," Ace offered, the other two agreeing with his idea. When they did go out, it was pretty windy, so Luffy sat down as Ace and Sabo held his wings up and out. The feathers fluttered in the wind, and it made them both sad he'd never be able to raise them himself ever again.

"So what is wrong wif my wings?" he asked. "Dey fixed?" Luffy stared out into the horizon near the steadily lowering sun.

"Well, Luffy, it's not good. Your wings were too injured to fix. I'm sorry, but they'll never move again," Ace said sadly. Luffy didn't cry, though he was very sad. He just lowered his head and looked at his clean hands, with clean fingernails.

"I never fly?"

"No. It's called being paralyzed. It means there is no feeling or control to some part of your body. We're really sorry, Lu," Sabo explained, using Luffy's recent nickname. He ran his fingers through Luffy's soft and clean hair comfortingly. They said nothing else, each lost in their own thoughts.

It took half an hour for the littlest one's wings to dry completely dry. "Why don't you take him back to the doctor and I'll go get all of our things?" Ace asked Sabo. "I'll have to ask someone else since there's probably too much for me to carry back." Then he turned to Luffy. "I'll be back in a little bit. I'm going to get our stuff and your bee, okay?" Luffy nodded and then followed Sabo into the ship to the infirmary to Amber, who was waiting for them.

Ace wandered around until he found Thatch in the kitchen. But Ace knew Thatch wouldn't come with him since he was apparently the cook and was in the middle of cooking a giant meal. Well, Marco was his second choice, but was harder to find on the massive ship. He saw two men talking and went up to them, waiting so not to interrupt their conversation. They didn't see him at first, since they were both very large and very loud. Ace was about to leave and find someone else before he heard Luffy's name pop up in their conversation.

What was haki? And why was one of the men describing Luffy as having some sort of feeling coming off of him. Ace had never felt this warm feeling off of his little brother… Strange.

Finally, he said, "Excuse me? Do you know where I can find Marco?" The two large men looked down at him, wondering how long he'd been there.

"He's probably in his office writing about what happened today. Take two lefts down the hall and it's the first door on the left," the bigger man said. Ace thanked him and hurried away. He followed the directions and came across an open doorway, with Marco sitting at a large desk with a pair of glasses on. Ace knocked on the opened door.

"Oh, hey Ace. Need something?" Marco asked, sounding bored, which Ace had seen him as being mostly since they met.

"I want to go back to our home and get our belongings, but I can't carry all of it. And I've noticed a lot of the crew are very big people, and our rope ladder isn't the strongest. Can you help? Thatch is cooking," Ace explained. Marco nodded, taking his glasses off. Paperwork could wait.

Marco could have flown there if he felt like it, but instead he walked with Ace through the desolate and dingy town and into the woods. Then Ace spoke first.

"What is the feeling that comes off of Luffy? I heard some people talking about it on the ship. I don't feel anything like that from him. So what is it?" the boy questioned. The Tiger Lord approached them, but Marco gave im the most deadly and threatening look, chasing the massive beast off before Ace had even seen it.

"Haki is like a sixth sense. You can know who and where someone is if they are close enough. Everyone is distinct in their own way. Luffy gives off a strange feeling. Not everyone on the ship can use haki, but those who can have all agreed that Luffy gives off a nice feeling. It's like a warm and soft feeling. That's the only way I can describe it. You can't feel it because you can't use haki.

"I assume he gives off that feeling because it has something to do with him being an angel. None of the crew have ever met a angel face to face, so we haven't encountered it before. If Luffy was ever able to master that feeling, he could become pretty powerful.

"His wings are paralyzed, aren't they?" Marco asked, suddenly changing the conversation. Ace nodded grimly. Marco said nothing more, and they walked the short rest of the way in silence.

The man was impressed when the boys' treehouse came into view. It was well built. There was a rope ladder hanging from the entrance doorway at the top of the tree. It was a long climb. Marco would rather just fly.

Ace looked down to see if Marco was following him up, but the man wasn't there. Ace furrowed his brows. Did he ditch?

"Do you want to take everything in here?" Marco said from inside the treehouse.

"How the hell did you get up there?" Ace called from three fourths the way up. "You didn't climb up…"

"I flew with my Devil Fruit. I can turn into a pheonyx. You need all of this stuff?" he asked as Ace came up and into the tree house.

"Show me more later. Yeah, most of this stuff. It's not much though." They duo then picked up all of their belongings, which were mostly homemade knick knacks and Luffy's bee. They didn't really have changes of clothes, and the ones they did were ratty and they would never wear things like that in front of other people.

Ace climbed up the branch connected to the main part of the tree house and untied the little pirates flag with the boys' initials on it. It was from when Ace and Sabo had once wanted to be pirates before they met _real_ pirates. They didn't want to become those types of people after that. But they had kept the flag, which they'd added an L when Luffy came to live with them.

Ace took one last look at his recent home. He'd miss it. But he turned away and didn't look back.

"That was a pretty well-built house. Did you and Sabo make it yourselves?" Marco asked.

"Yeah. We used supplies from the island's dump. Do me, Sabo and Luffy get a room or is there some sort of common room everyone sleeps in?" Ace questioned.

"Some of the crew are setting up and empty room for you three. It already had a spare mattress on the inside, and Izo can make you some sheets. Oh crap, we never bought his fabric. Well, I'll go back later," Marco said nonchalantly. The two walked in silence again, though not uncomfortable.

"I no like dis," Luffy said as his wings were folded down how they were supposed to naturally be, kept in place by a triangular like wooden splint, keeping the pieces of the bones as close as possible.

"But you can't feel it, Luffy. And it's to help," Sabo said as Luffy frowned, looking behind him. Sabo was right, he wasn't uncomfortable. It just seemed inconvenient.

"How I sleep in dis?"

"You have to sleep on your stomach, Luffy," Amber said.

"Don't frown, you've mostly been sleeping on your stomach at our old home, too," Sabo said.

"What about blankies?" Amber answered right away, already having planned for this.

"We'll just modify them so your wings still stay upright. Like your shirt. The cut in the back to go around the wings. It should be easy for Izo. Do you want to go down and have dinner? Thatch made a huge meal for your first night here. And I'm sure there are going to be deserts, too," Amber said with a smile.

"I alegic to peanuts," Luffy informed her. Mommy always made sure he didn't eat peanuts.

"Alright, thank you for telling me," Amber said, writing it down on the clipboard she'd used for all of Luffy's medical information so far. "No peanuts then. That will be easy to cut out. Want to go and eat?"

"Yah!" Luffy cheered. Sabo smiled at him, though sadly wondering when he'd fall apart. "Let's go, Sabo!"

"Alright, I'm coming," Sabo said nicely. He followed Luffy as he ran out of the room and to where he smelled the food.


	4. A New Papa

Sabo wondered what the crew would think of Luffy's bottomless stomach. He pushed open the door to the galley and kitchen, where almost everyone looked to him. They had sensed his warm haki, if it even was haki in the first place.

"Welcome! You two can sit with the commanders if you'd like. We've made a special seat for Luffy so he can reach the table," Thatch told them loudly to be heard above the boisterous talking of well over a thousand people. Luffy followed where his friend pointed, Sabo holding his hand.

Luffy's head barely reached the table's edge, so Sabo lifted him into a raised seat. It had handles on the side, but wasn't like a high-chair. The food hadnt been served yet, though the smell was delicious.

Amber came in and sat near them, going to tell the captain and commanders about Luffy's wings. Just when Luffy was about to ask where Ace was, the boy came walking in with Marco. Ace ran over to the two and sat beside Luffy.

"Where you been?" Luffy asked curiously while Ace stared at the splints around his wings.

"I went and got all of our belongings from the treehouse and our pipes. And your bee, Luffy, don't worry. I even saw the room we'll be staying in. it's a mattress big enough for all of us to sleep on. There are also some simple sleep clothes set on the blankets.

"Even Luffy has one that fits around his wings," Ace informed his brothers. Luffy smiled. He was tired of these messy clothes. He was sure they still didn't smell the best, but were not even close to how they smelled before their bath.

"Your wings look a lot nicer now, Luffy," a tan man with long and curled mustaches said. "I'm Vista. It's nice to meet you." Luffy smiled at him and nodded. Then Vista introduced himself to Ace and Sabo.

"Nice to meet you, too. It's nice to meet all of you," Sabo said politely.

"Oh, looks like this one has manners," Marco said, teasing Ace since he hadn't been the friendliest person to Marco, though he didn't mean to be rude. Ace scowled at him.

"I'm plenty polite!" he snapped. Sabo laughed.

"Yeah, because yelling at someone is the epitome of friendliness," Sabo joked, getting some laughs out of the other commanders. "We're not kids living in the woods anymore. You have to be nice." Ace _humphed_ and turned to Luffy.

"Ace is nice to me," Luffy pointed out. He wasn't a mean person.

" _Only_ to you, Luffy," Sabo replied. Then a thought popped into Luffy's head.

"We pirates, too now?" he asked curiously. "Sabo say pirates bad people." The others smiled at the table.

"Well, we don't consider ourselves bad pirates. We don't pillage or murder innocent people, Luffy. We are bad to the marines and civilians, but you'll never catch us hurting people who don't deserve it."

"Sabo and Ace beat people for stuff," Luffy said innocently. "Dey strong with sticks."

"Well stealing isn't allowed on the ship," Marco said.

"We werent just gonna rob for no reason! We stole food and tools from obviously bad people. Don't go telling people stuff like that with no context, Luffy. And they're not sticks, they're pipes!" Ace said irritably. Everyone found his floundering amusing, while Sabo put his hand to his face. Ace needed to learn how to be social.

"When is food?" Luffy asked, the subject easily changed. Just as he said that, Thatch began serving food. Ace and Sabo noticed now that there were a couple other chefs serving as well. It made sense because there was no way one man could cook all of this for such a large amount of people.

When the food was set on the table, Luffy reached for all the food around him and piled his plate with an amount enough to fill multiple full grown adults. But, even though he'd been eating with his hands with no napkins for a few weeks, he still ate neatly like mommy taught him, though quickly as well. The commanders watched him in shock as he packed away so much food so quickly. Then he reached for more.

Then they noticed Ace and Sabo swiping the food he wasn't taking. "Better hurry before he eats all of it," Sabo said as he ate with manners as well. Ace on the other hand, was not so neat. He did use a fork, but couldn't figure out how to use a knife, so he just sawed through the food with the side of his utensil.

So the table near Luffy was soon empty as the people sitting there snatched as much food as possible from Luffy's reach.

"Luffy, you don't have to eat so fast. There's more food," Thatch said as he sat down and ate as well.

"I no fast, you slow!" he said as he ate some more.

By the time the meal slowed, Luffy was patting his tummy, which didn't look any bigger, which confused and slightly amused the others at the table. Even Whitebeard, who wasn't sitting far at all, thought it was entertaining.

The room had quieted down after some of the pirates left to do other things.

"So how are the little one's wings?" Whitebeard asked while Luffy looked tired, taking a sip of his milk through the straw. He stuck his thumb in his mouth, apparently alerting the brothers to bed time. It was hard knowing what time it was when they were inside and not outside in their treehouse.

They bid goodnight as they took a very sleepy Luffy out of the room and to theirs, Ace leading the way.

"The bones had splintered and severed the nerves. So his wings are permanently paralyzed. The splints are to try and get the bones to heal, though the nerves are permanently destroyed," Amber said sadly. Thatch frowned deeply. But at least Luffy had never learned to fly, so he couldn't miss it now that it was no longer possible. They all sat in silence for a moment.

"That's too bad," Whitebeard said honestly.

"Pops, why did you approve a little kid coming with us?" Vista asked curiously. "Was it because you felt bad for him? Or is there another reason?"

Whitebeard didn't speak for a moment. But then he said, "Angels are good people. I've never heard of or met one who wasn't. Plus, some of us know what it's like to be put in his shoes, and then, those healed by being a part of this family. Who am I to deny him? He is very young, but it's not like he will be getting into fights with marines or other pirates. Plus, it is a sin to cut an angels wings. That is why they are so valuable. There aren't many who risk the curse to take wings.

"We can protect him easily. And I know things have been down lately. But look at how everyone reacted to him today. And Ace and Sabo as well. Those are my reasons," the captain concluded.

"Do all angels give off that warm feeling?" Marco asked. Whitebeard shook his head.

"No, I've never met one in my long life that has given out that feeling. It might be his age, or some other reason we don't know of. But it is a nice feeling, is it not?" the man said. Everyone nodded.

"I wonder when he'll fall apart," Izo said, having not been a main part of the conversation, but had been listening.

"Probably tonight if I'm correct," the aged man replied. The others frowned in pity and sympathy.

The three brothers fell asleep easily, dressed in comfortable and clean clothes, each having a blanket on themselves though they laid side by side. Luffy was holding his dirty bee tightly as he laid on his stomach.

" _Take them and go!" his father said as Luffy's mom ran away. Luffy watched from behind, as if in slow motion, as his daddy's wings were sawed off and he screamed in agony._

 _Usopp was screaming in terror while Luffy looked to mommy's scared and upset face. She was crying. Mommy rarely cried in front of her boys._

" _Where daddy, mommy?" Luffy heard the screams stop, and now knew daddy was death. Mommy looked even sadder when daddy stopped yelling._

 _Usopp was still crying as Luffy rewatched everything, though now the worse parts were slower. The boys were dropped to the ground painfully when mommy got attacked from the behind and fell to the hard cement._

 _Mommy yelled at Usopp and Luffy to run as her wings were stepped on and quickly sawed off. Usopp was next. Soon they both stopped screaming as blood poured from their backs. But this time, Luffy couldn't move, and was kicked and stepped on, his own wings beginning to be sawed off. And he could feel it. It hurt so much…_

" _Luffy, honey, wake up," mommy said as Luffy jerked upright. What a scary dream! "It was just a nightmare, Luffy. I'm here, like always." She pet his hair lovingly. "Why don't you come sleep with me and daddy. Usopp is there, too. He had a bad dream as well."_

 _Luffy got up off his bed, holding a clean bee stuffed animal, and he walked to his parent's room. Daddy and Usopp were already sleeping in the big bed, and Luffy and mommy joined them, sleeping peacefully._

Luffy opened his eyes, filled with tears that splashed down his cheeks. He wasn't in his room anymore, and mommy wasn't there to comfort him after a bad dream. She was never going to be there again. No more cuddles and hugs, or drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows, or mommy reading him a book. And Usopp would never come over and try and get attention as well. But he'd just end up doing what Luffy was doing, now mommy reading to both of them.

He slowly got off the bed and opened the door, which he could barely reach the handle. Luffy needed to cry, but he didn't want to wake anyone else up. He wandered in the direction he knew the door to the outside was. He saw no one on his way, which he was thankful for.

He stuck his thumb in his mouth, trying to keep the tears at bay until he was completely alone. But they were coming out, so he ran down the halls, his bare feet not making much noise. He finally reached the door he could feel cold air coming from. He opened it loudly. Everything was so quiet out here, except for the soft sloshing against the still ship.

He walked towards the railing, sat down with his legs through the bars, and cried. Sobbed horrible, heartbreaking sobs and wails. He felt like he was going to throw up or pee himself or both. He wanted to go home. He wanted his family. Why didn't he get to go with them? Then they could have all been together, forever, wherever they went afterwards.

Whitebeard woke up from a unique feeling of haki rushing past his room. That had to have been Luffy, which meant he had sadly been right before. If it had been any of his other sons, he'd have let them have their peace, but Luffy was a little child, and didn't really know anyone else on this ship besides Ace and Sabo, who were most likely still sleeping, or they would have gone after the little one. He was also the one with the freshest wounds in his heart.

He sighed and left his room and walked down the hall to the slightly ajar door leading to the deck. As he got to the door, he heard terrible sobs coming from the deck. It didn't take long for him to find where Luffy was once he was outside.

Luffy had to have heard Whitebeard approach, but didn't even try to conceal his crying. He couldn't. The giant man sat down next to him, so much bigger than the little boy next to him.

"What were your family like, little one?" Whitebeard asked softly. "I'd like to hear about them."

Luffy gave a wobbly smile, thinking of everything his family did with him. It hurt so bad, but he liked thinking about them right then. "Mommy is really pretty and she read to me at bed time and make good chocolate milk. And dere is always a story she tell me even when she has no book wif her.

"We have crismis and we have a big tree and socks wif candy. She make yummy food and cake and we always have popcorn. Daddy always eat snacks, but never get fat, and he lift me and Usopp and we go around like flying wifout wings. Mommy and daddy dance to music a lot, and me and Usopp watch from corner. Sometimes dey sing, too. Dey no know we watching.

"Usopp scared of everyfing, and I be good for him and we go outside and play in da snow. He scared of lots of snow in air, and I throw snow at him and he get mad and do it back, but he no scared anymore. We fight sumtimes, but love each oder anyways.

"I wanna be wif dem. I no wanna be wif anyone but dem and be home wif all my toys and books. I no want bad guys to have deir wings. I want to have dem so I can be wif dem a little bit." Then he broke into cries again. His face was puffy and red and he had a runny nose.

Whitebeard looked at him sadly and, being so much bigger, rubbed a single finger down his back to try and comfort him. "I know it's not the same, but you are welcome here into this family. It will never be the same, and we won't replace your old family, but you can talk to any of us. Most, if not all of us, has lost someone or something.

"I was an orphan when I was little, like you. My family was killed as well, right in front of me. I'd always wanted a family, so that's why I started this crew. Pirates like treasure, but there will never be any treasure more dear to me than this family.

"Each new member is a new family member, one of my sons. Even now, you and Ace and Sabo are new sons. I won't be daddy, but I can be a different kind of father for you. For as long as you want," Whitebeard said quietly. Luffy watched him as he spoke.

"Do you miss your mommy and daddy, too?" Luffy asked sadly, sniffling.

"I did miss them, very much, but the pain goes away after awhile. You will grieve and miss your family, but over time, it will get better, and then you can think about them with only happiness and not feel sad. You can smile instead of cry.

"No one on this ship will understand your situation more than I will, even if it happened many decades ago. But I remember the pain very well. I will always be here to talk. I will always be here for my sons."

Luffy sniffled once and then nodded his head.

"Why don't we both go back to sleep? The sooner we sleep, the sooner Thatch can make a delicious breakfast and you can explore the ship with Ace and Sabo," Whitebeard said as he stood up when Luffy did. He was so much smaller that Whitebeard would need to be careful not to step on him.

"Kay," Luffy said as the two walked back inside and the captain walked with Luffy back to his bedroom.

"I will see you tomorrow, little one," he said quietly. Luffy nodded with a smile. Whitebeard barely heard Luffy quietly thank him and close the door behind him with a small smile.

Luffy fell asleep easily and didn't wake up again.

Luffy hurried into the galley and to his table, where Whitebeard was already sitting.

"Papa!" Luffy called. "I no more have bad dream!" he said happily as he reached the table. Everyone looked at him in surprise. 'Papa'? They wondered what happened to make his attitude change so much just in one day.

Ace and Sabo came behind him and Ace lifted him to his seat. "You had a bad dream, Luffy?" the freckled child asked.

"Yah. It was scary… and den sad," Luffy mumbled. "And den papa help me when I go sad outside."

"Luffy, you went outside with no one being there with you? Don't do that again. You could get hurt and no one would be there for you," Sabo said sternly. Ace agreed, nodding his head vigorously.

"No, papa was dere for me," Luffy countered.

"But he might not always be there at that moment," Sabo told him as the food was served.

"Well he say he be," Luffy said with a pout at his brother before reaching for breakfast food. Some of it another pirate would put on his plate so he didn't just scoop up scrambled eggs with his hands or grab pancakes that were still hot.

The food that morning was just as good as the food the night before.

"Time for you three to have a tour of the ship," Thatch said after breakfast was cleaned up and the galley empty. Luffy grinned.

"Yay!" Luffy exclaimed. "More places to play." Sabo and Ace smiled, as did Thatch, who told Luffy that sometime everyone might play a massive game of hide-and-go-seek some day. "But first, we have to introduce you to the ship."

Luffy nodded and took both of his brothers' hands as they were shown around.

The ship was just as big on the inside than it looked on the outside. There were hundreds of doors, which held one to three people depending on what the pirates want. Some like staying together, while others couldn't imagine not being in their own room. The small library had stars in Sabo's eyes, and he decided he'd be spending a lot of time in that room.

Ace's favorite room was the training room, which had various weapons and courses. It was quite big. He could train a lot in this room. There were no windows, so nothing to break one by hitting the walls.

Luffy liked the smallest room in the whole ship the most. It was more like a closet, which had spare sheets, blankets and pillows. Everything was so soft and fluffy, that he exclaimed he'd visit this room a lot. When Thatch tried to explain to him that it was a closet, Luffy just said that a closet is another room, right? That it's just smaller.

Well, now Sabo and Ace knew where Luffy would probably hide. The little one was sad when they had to leave it and continue to tour. By the time the tour was over, the brothers knew they'd still get lost. The whole interior was a maze of hallways and stairs, which

Luffy wasn't allowed to be near by himself.

It wasn't that Luffy was clumsy, because he wasn't, but they just didn't want to risk him falling in any way. Just like Luffy probably could have climbed the rope ladder from their treehouse, but Sabo insisted he always held onto his back to be safe. Luffy didn't pout at being prohibited from going someplace because there was nothing in those floors that he was interested in.

They all really liked the room of the ship, though Ace and Sabo did miss the freedom of the forest a bit. But they were quickly becoming used to the ship and being around so many people. But the pirates were clearly having a harder time getting used to the children. They swore like crazy still, and joked about inappropriate things. Ace and Sabo would put their hands over Luffy's ears whenever they heard the voices of certain, very distinct members.

Those with haki, however, had it easier to adjust to Luffy and his brothers. They stopped swearing or their crass talk when they felt the warmth from Luffy approach. Luffy was the popular one out of the boys, since that warmth he gave off was relaxing, and he was also cute and entertaining. Sabo was the polite one whereas Ace was the one that got snappy more often. He hated being embarrassed and would bite back when "his pride was targeted!" (as he said to Sabo after being scolded).

Sabo clicked most with Thatch; Ace surprisingly connected with Marco, though he pissed Ace off a lot. Ace found it fun to try and push Marco so he didn't look so bored, whether he was getting the pheonyx human angry or entertained. And the littlest member clicked with the biggest.

Over the next couple of weeks on the ship, Luffy would follow Whitebeard around and try talking to him a lot. Whitebeard didn't mind, and found he had a soft spot for Luffy. Whenever Luffy was upset, and didn't want to talk to Ace and Sabo, he'd visit the captain, who would show his gentle side and speak with Luffy about whatever he wanted to talk about, be it sad or just babbling about random things he found fun or interesting.

Two weeks after they'd been on the ship, now very much adjusted, once they were docked at an island, Luffy finally got his big game with everyone. It was a massive game of hide-and-seek. Luffy was the easiest to find the first couple rounds, hiding behind curtains or under the blankets in his special closet.

Finally, he found a better hiding spot as Sabo did the counting in the galley. Whitebeard hadn't participated because, well there was no place big enough for him to hide after all. Luffy hurried over to the captain.

"You have big hands so I hide in dem?" Luffy asked happily. Whitebeard said nothing, just opened his big hands and curled them around Luffy so that Luffy was hidden completely. Whitebeard could hear his giggles, though.

An hour after the game started, everyone had been found except Luffy. When all of the ship couldn't find Luffy, people began to panic that he'd fallen overboard. Finally, everyone approached Whitebeard in panic, asking what to do. He just smirked at them all, and opened his hands.

Luffy jumped out, and exclaimed, "FINALLY I WIN!" Everyone just started at him in shock before the moment passed and the deck erupted in deafening laughter.


	5. Snow Day

_So many people liked the last chapter, thanks for the reviews! I might not be able to post for a few days since my computer needs to be repaired and I don't know how long that will take. Anyways, this chapter is a bit sad as well. But enjoy~_

"We're going to dock at this island for food. We're getting low on meat and produce," Thatch said to everyone in the galley one morning. They were nearing an island with a thick jungle, and one port city.

"That's not necessary," Sabo said loudly, quieting Thatch. Everyone looked at he and Ace, who was nodding. "How much meat do you need?"

"Enough meat for two weeks worth of cooking two meals a day with meat for 1,603 people. Why?" Ace and Sabo grinned.

"Say no more. We'll get you your meat. This island looks like our home island. That means it might have the kind of food we used to hunt for meals," Ace said and then he and Sabo ran out of the room to get their pipes, getting a "have fun!" from Luffy at the table. The other pirates looked skeptical about the boys getting enough meat for so long for so many people.

"No worry! Dey can do it," Luffy said as he drank his milk at the table.

"...I give them three hours before we go to buy some food," Marco said, though he didn't doubt Ace and Sabo were strong. But that much meat was too much for two children to handle. And how would they get it back?

"No, dey can do it," Luffy said again. "I see dem hunt and is scary but cool, too." Whitebeard chuckled.

"I guess we'll see, now won't we?"

"I missed this!" Sabo shouted as they cornered a giant panda. It was their fifth panda, which had been easy to take down. It wasn't hard just to hit the throat and the thing was dead. They were going to collect them afterwards, just leaving their bodies where they had been killed. If something ate the food, at least they didn't have a massive pile of food for them.

"Me too!" Ace laughed as they looked for their next prey. "Hey, look. Alligators! You think everyone has ever eaten an alligator?" the freckled boy asked as he approached the murky pond teeming with alligators.

"I don't know. If they haven't, then Thatch gets to experiment with some food. I'm sure he'd like that," Sabo replied. "I bet I can get more than you," he teased Ace.

"Bring it," Ace said with narrowed eyes as they both jumped for the creatures, beating them brutally with their pipes until they died and sunk down under the water. That was the part they hated the most. Going into the disgusting water to drag out the creatures.

"Ugh, this is gonna take a while getting everything back. I bet they don't believe us and when we get back, they'll already have wasted a bunch of money on food. Jeez, we're pirates. Why don't we just steal?" Ace said, pulling his shirt back on after the last alligator was out of the water.

"You're probably right. I bet Luffy would easily devour a bunch of the animals if there were extra meat hanging around," Sabo agreed.

The two hunted for three more hours and soon almost every creature living in the forest was dead. Even squirrels and rabbits had been caught. The only animals completely untouched were birds simply because you can't throw a pipe like a bow and arrow or gun.

It took three hours to lug the massive amount of dead meat to the coast near the ship. No one had noticed them until they started to throw the small dead creatures on deck. Luffy heard the slap at the moment the others felt the haki of something moving onto the ship. The littlest pirate hurried to the side of the ship, and shouted, "I tell you so!" pointing to the pile of loot Ace and Sabo had promised.

Once the pirates came out to see what Luffy was shouting about and Vista was watching, were surprised and impressed with the amount of animals the children had hunted.

"This should keep us for a while, right?!" Ace called from the cliff.

"Hope you didn't go out and waste some money on food!" Sabo said next. Luffy giggled, causing both brothers to grin.

That night was a feast, and the first time in a while Luffy had had alligator meat, his favorite. He inhaled the meat of three of the six alligators, wanting more but being denied so Thatch could give him some tomorrow.

The amount of meat would have lasted them longer, but there wasn't enough room in the freezer for all of it. So Luffy was the trash can. He ate all of the meat, even if it was just grilled with no flavor. At least the food wasn't going to waste.

Things had been better for Luffy for a while, but then the inevitable happened. They visited a winter island. Luffy's family had lived on a winter island, and they only were in that town because it had a destination Luffy and Usopp had wanted to see for Luffy's birthday. They were taking the sea train from their island to Ace and Sabo's home island.

The moment Luffy saw snow on the island they were approaching, he locked himself in his favorite closet. He didn't want to see the snow. It hurt to see it, and still have the urge to go to Usopp so they could play in it. Usopp was gone, and Luffy couldn't play with him again. He didn't want to be reminded of it.

No one knew why Luffy became so withdrawn, except Whitebeard, remembering something Luffy had babbled about the first night they spoke.

He and his brother played in the snow.

Luffy ended up coming off the boat when everyone on the ship decided they'd have a snow day, and Luffy couldn't stay on the ship by himself. So he reluctantly went with the rest of the crew, unable to help looking at the pretty sights of the white covering everything.

Ace and Sabo held his hands while they walked through the snow. Neither had gotten any answer out of Luffy as to why he was upset on the island. They kept him close, and told the rest of the crew that they'd be all going off to play in the snow, away from the noise of everyone else. Ace and Sabo were trusted to go places on their own, and the crew knew they were perfect at protecting Luffy and not getting him into trouble.

Luffy didn't take part in the snowball fight. He only watched as Ace and Sabo ruthlessly pelted each other with hard balls of snow. Snowball fights werent supposed to be violent like that. They were supposed to be fun, and playing, not hurting. Luffy eventually turned away from the scene and doodled in the snow with his fingers.

"Luffy, do you wanna build some stuff out of the snow? See who makes the best snowman?" Ace offered kindly.

"Yah."

Luffy began his clumsily made, short snowman. At first, it was going to be a normal snowman, with a stick for a nose and some rocks for the eyes and mouth. But, after putting the long stick in for the nose, Luffy found himself making something different. He didn't notice what he was making. Not the bushy shrubs for the curly hair, or the multiple sticks he made into sloppy wings, each one poking out of the snowman's back.

Once he was finished, he looked at his creation with a blank face, before realizing he had been making his brother. He stared at it, seeing Usopp as if he was standing next to it, telling Luffy he'd done a poor job. Luffy's eyes started to burn until he felt hot tears stinging his face from the sudden warmth on his cold cheeks.

He hugged the Usopp snowman before he then created mommy and daddy. He made it so he sat in the middle of the three snow figures of his lost family, and just sat there for a while, crying silently.

He missed them everyday, but tried to be strong and not cry, even when he felt he'd burst if he didn't. But some things set him off, then he would wander away just long enough to either cry and try to get the tears to go away by making himself a time limit, or just to try and calm himself down before he thought anyone noticed.

Despite the fact that Luffy was a terrible liar, a lot of the crew didn't notice his acting. Acting and lying were very different to Luffy. The ones he was sure noticed were Ace and Whitebeard. Neither said anything about it because Luffy was trying to hide his feeling for a reason and knowing that he wasn't doing it good enough would upset him.

Ace and Sabo didn't know what to do about what was happening then, how to help him, other than going over to him and sitting down, but not inside his little circle. Just close enough to him that they could both touch his gloved hands. It was quiet for a while.

"I made mommy and daddy and Usopp," Luffy suddenly said. "I did no good job, though. Usopp laugh at me cause is no good… Can we leave dis island? I no wanna be here anymore…"

"Sure, Luffy. Let's go back. Here you go," Sabo said, wrapping his soft scarf around Luffy's lower face and giving his beanie to his little brother so it hid most of the evidence he'd been crying. "In case you don't want anyone knowing you were crying."

"It's okay to cry, Luffy. It's not a bad thing that needs to be hidden," Ace told him gently.

"No one else cries. Only me," Luffy replied sadly. "I just miss mommy and daddy and Usopp… I do try hard to feel better. It no work a lot. Just make me more sad."

"I'm sorry Luffy. No one I know here has any reason to cry right now except you. And we all understand why you do," Sabo said. "And we love you, even if you sometimes get sad or lonely or just want to cry. You're still Luffy. No one sees you as a crybaby or anything like that." Ace nodded in agreement.

Luffy teared up a bit. "I love you guys," he mumbled, gripping both boys' hands tightly. "You da best."

"And we love you, too, Luffy. We'll always be here to protect you," Ace said kindly. "Always."

Luffy smiled and nodded, his tears drying, as they walked to the large group of people who had mostly tired themselves out. To his new family. It wasn't the same, it never would be the same, but it was a different kind of family.


	6. Goodbye?

**After all the fluff, we are getting back into the dark parts. Second to last chapter, so hang on one more chapter! Enjoy~ (I know I'm cruel)**

"Luffy, come down from there," Thatch called, now unable to find the six year old as he hid in the masts. "It's almost dinner and I want that cake mix now, or else," he said sternly.

"I already ate a lot of it!" Luffy called down. He now didn't want to come back down and face Thatch, who was going to make a special cake for Luffy's birthday for everyone to share. But he hadn't even finished baking it before Luffy stealthily snatched the bowl of chocolate batter. "Don't be mad, it's my birthday!"

"You aren't getting a baked cake if you have eaten all the batter!" Thatch called back. "Just bring me the rest, and I'll try and salvage it. But _only_ because it's your birthday." Luffy smiled and dropped back down in front of him, and handed him the bowl with the small remainder of batter. Luffy's face was covered with it. He smiled at Thatch innocently.

Thatch sighed. "I'll try and make this into some cupcakes."

"Yay! You're not mad, right?" Luffy asked nervously. He didn't want Thatch to be mad at him. The food just looked so yummy that he couldn't resist.

"No, I'm not mad. I can't stay mad at you even if I tried, you beastie. There should be a limit to the puppy dog face!" Thatch told him loudly. "Why does it only not work on Marco!?" Luffy just giggled.

"Can I help?" the birthday boy questioned. So far, even though it was early, Luffy was having a much better birthday than his last.

"You can help by not eating the rest and cleaning the galley for the party. Even if it's your birthday, you have to help," Thatch said, though not unkindly. Luffy smiled and followed the cook.

Luffy, Ace, and Sabo had been on the ship for almost a year. Like papa had told him, the pain of the murder of his family had faded, though he couldn't help but be depressed this day. But as long as he stayed busy with someone or something, he didn't fall into the thick depression that followed him on the one year anniversary.

He had to think about this anniversary was the day he found Sabo and Ace. Well, they found him. His brothers helped him through the worst time of his short life, and he could never leave them. Ever. Even if they left the Whitebeard Pirate ship, the three boys would stay together.

Ace and Sabo were both 11 by now, and had gone on trips with the commanders multiple times, while Luffy had stayed behind. Both boys had looked older after the year Luffy had known them. The only difference you could see in Luffy's aging was that his wings were a little bigger. They still looked lumpy, but the bones had healed, though not in the right places as before.

Those days that his brothers were gone had made him lonely, but you could never be lonely too long on this ship. Someone was always there for him, like a tight net that wouldn't let him fall into despair. But when the brothers came back, sometimes gone at the same time, they always brought something for Luffy. He had a pile of toys some of his siblings had gotten him.

Luffy was never allowed to leave the ship unless he was with papa or one of the commanders, since it was long since known that there was a young angel on the Whitebeard Pirate crew. Luffy had been targeted multiple times, but each time, he was rescued before anything really happened. Papa had destroyed ships who had attempted to take Luffy, so Luffy was never worried about getting caught. They'd save him before anything happened, anyway. His trust in his family was as unbreakable as Jozu's diamond body.

A pirate ship attacked the Moby Dick, but that wasn't so unusual. Luffy just stayed inside the ship while everyone fought the attackers off. He stayed in the galley, making sure the cupcakes didn't get burned while Thatch helped out with the fight. Luffy wasn't worried. Well, the only thing he was worried about was whether he'd get in trouble for eating some of the frosting while it waited to be decorated.

Suddenly, everything got so quiet. He stilled, waiting for the noise to come back. Why was everything so quiet? But then, there was a massive _CRACK_ sound, and screams coming from the deck. He could hear papa's booming voice, and it was full of worry. Luffy was scared now. Papa sounded scared, and papa was _never_ scared of anything.

Luffy broke out in a run down the hall towards the entrance, but then stopped in his tracks. The hallway was thick with smoke, and the cracking sounds wasn't cracking, it was _crackling_. The ship was on fire from the outside, and Luffy was inside. Was the only one inside. He began to panic, running in the opposite way. But the sound of the fire was following him. He began to cry out for someone to help him. But no one was there. He was the only one who hadnt been partaking in the battle. No one else wanted to miss out on the fun.

The interior filled with smoke quickly, and Luffy was finally as far from the front entrance as possible. He was pressed up against the wall, his wings squished between his back and the wooden wall at the end of the long hallways.

It he had a sword, he could cut through the wall and get out that way, but he had no sword. And he wasn't super strong. He was trapped. Was he going to die? On his birthday?! Again, his birthday?!

Luffy sobbed as the air filled with more smoke around him. As he saw the fire creep down his hallway, he ran into the nearest bathroom and began smashing the window with his fists. Could he fit out?

He began to stuff his body through the small window. But it was useless. He couldn't get out. His wings were too big. And he wasn't brave enough to try and cut them off, and didn't have the supplies. He'd also rather die than have his wings taken, by himself or not. It was all he had left of his parents and brother.

But, as he choked on smoke, suddenly the air was clear and the wind was strong. He opened his eyes slowly to see a big hole in the wall. He could fit through it!

"Well, it wasn't too hard finding you," a man said as he looked at Luffy's shocked and sooty face. He punched Luffy in the head hard enough to knock him out cold. The room Luffy had been trying to get out the window was close to the water's surface, so it was easy for his captor to pull his small body out and ride away to his main ship.

"Got him!" he shouted, signaling for the pirates to give up and pretend to retreat, leaving the burning ship behind. Luffy's captor was hooked to the side of the ship that none of the Whitebeard Pirates could see him and the crew's baby brother. Luffy stayed asleep as the ship sailed away.

"Luffy?!" Marco called as he flew down the burning interiors in his pheonyx form, the smoke not harming him. "Luffy where are you?!" He'd been in every room and found no Luffy. Everything was burned so badly. It looked like the interior got the most damage, not the deck or sails. This fire was purposely lit to trap Luffy inside.

Marco found no remains. Nothing. He didn't pay attention to the hole in the bathroom wall because some of the other windows had blown out as well. "Luffy!" he cried. If he couldn't find him, and there were no other exits or entrances that hadn't been on fire. Luffy was dead.

Marco had to tell his family their baby brother and son had burned to death.

"What the hell?! What's wrong with his wings, these won't sell!" a man shouted angrily. Luffy woke up, his head hurting, one ankle chained to the cold hard floor of a dark room. Luffy's vision was a little blurry.

"Hey… wait! I recognize this kid! I almost caught him last year. Got his family, but he ran away. Guess I did this to his wings. Oops," a familiar sounding man laughed. Luffy held his breath and looked up in horror. He recognized these men. The men who haunted his dreams for months. The men who ripped away his family along with their wings.

Luffy was terrified, but almost immediately, he grew furious. He would _not_ let these bad men take his wings!

"You!" Luffy roared furiously. "WHERE ARE THEIR WINGS!?" Luffy shrieked. He knew the wings would be long gone, but he couldn't help but ask the question he'd wished he could have had answered when his family's wings were still attainable. He'd never been so angry.

"Your family? The ones who didn't put up a fight? Those are long gone. Sold for a pretty price, they did."

No one expected Luffy to whip around and swipe his unchained foot under the man. He fell to the ground with an irritated "oof!" and the Luffy was on him, bashing his fists onto his face, chest, neck and crotch. Anywhere he could reach, he beat.

It didn't last long, and soon his mouth was bleeding after being kicked in the cheek. "Little shit! don't touch us, you dirty, winged freak!"

The man Luffy had attacked spit on Luffy. "I don't care if they won't sell, saw his damn wings off now!" he screamed.

"No! No! NO! Don't touch them! Stop! NOOO! _STOP IT!_ "

Luffy laid on the dirty floor, his back bleeding from two vertical wounds. He couldn't feel his wings get cut off, but with every saw, he felt part of him fade away. His wings were gone forever. What was he now? A orphaned, former angel that was nobody now. He had no family, no friends, no wings, no hope.

As he was thrown overboard into the tumultuous waves, he just hoped his current family could avenge him and his old one. But at least now, he could see the people he'd been missing for so long. But, as he sunk, numb, he suddenly didn't want to die. He made his way back to the surface, treading the water, looking for anywhere to go to save himself.

But he was in the middle of the ocean, no ship in sight. How long had he been unconscious? How far away was the Moby Dick? Was it still functional? Would any of the Whitebeards look for him?

No, they wouldn't. They would think he'd burned to death in the fire. He could now only count on himself. He had to find land. What a birthday. Was he cursed? If he lived that long, he wasn't looking forward to his next birthday.

He swam in one direction for hours, his whole body hurting and unbearably thirsty. Eventually, he couldn't move anymore, and just floated on the surface. He knew there were probably sea kings somewhere near. Maybe they wouldn't kill him. But he was bleeding, though not heavily, so that would attract other dangerous creatures as well. Well, whatever happened, would happen regardless of what he could do.

He felt the water move below him, and he grew terrified. He closed his eyes as he heard a massive something surface loudly. After swimming for hours, he was going to be eaten and killed in one bite.

 _Ace, Sabo, papa, everyone… I'm sorry._

He waited for the inevitable attack, but instead he heard no sound until a moment later, the monster that had come went back underwater and swam away. He opened his eyes to see an old man with white hair and a unique looking beard smile at him.

"You're lucky I went on a swim, boy," and the Luffy fell unconscious.

 **I know this chapter was sad/horrible but just wait until the next one. Only one more to go and I won't put anyone in any pain again! Review.**


	7. Reunion

**Last chapter! Enjoy~**

"Another skewer, Luffy? You should branch out. Meat isn't the only thing to eat every day."

Luffy paid the vendor his stolen money and ate the kebab with beef on it. "Meat is my favorite. I'll eat it for every meal if I got to," Luffy told the man he regularly visited. "I'll probably be back later, so save me some chicken, please. There's lot's of tourists right now. Lot's to pickpocket."

"Good luck, like always. Maybe you could try and get a ride somewhere with this group of people," the vendor said in good spirits. Over the two years, he and Luffy had become acquaintances. They talked sometimes, but usually it was just about his food.

"I'm still waiting," Luffy replied, chewing the last piece of his kebab.

"Always waiting. When will you move on?" the man asked the child with a sigh.

"I won't," Luffy said and walked away. "They'll find me someday." Luffy headed towards his little camp, which was in one of the bubble trees of Sabaody Archipelago, the island he'd been living on for the last two years after Reighley had saved him and brought him back to his home island. Luffy was offered to live with the man, but he'd declined, and said he was waiting for someone to come and find him.

So, as a six year old, Luffy had been thrust into the position his brothers had been in. He was homeless and had no family. He fended for himself, though in a strikingly different way than his brothers had. Luffy didn't hunt or beat people for things. He pick pocketed and sneakily snatched things. He'd never hurt anyone, or gotten caught. He wouldn't know how to hurt someone, anyways.

His hair was shaggy and his clothes were faded. He was able to snag a sturdy outfit when he raided a passenger ship once. He'd had to that time. Right now, as an eight year old, he wore boots, loose pants with many pockets, and a simple red vest. He'd never shown the scars his wings had once been to anyone but Reighley, and even that wasn't voluntary.

He had a scar under his eye now, but still had his positive personality. At first, he'd been depressed and devastated, but he believed one day his brothers and papa would come to this island, wanting to go to or leave the New World, wherever they were. They would one day visit this island. He knew it, and he'd wait for them.

Though he was still mostly himself, he could be cold and intimidating if he was in a bad mood. He hadn't done a very good job, but he'd made his home in the tallest tree, like his brothers had. It was more like a nest than Ace and Sabo's treehouse. Luffy had only dug slats into the side of the tree as his ladder up. He used the bubbles as a bed, and it was the best place as a look-out for pirate ships.

But no ship as big as the Moby Dick had come. He had hope that the ship had been salvageable. And that everyone was okay. Did they miss him? Still, after two years? He assumed they thought he was dead. Had they forgetten about him yet?

By the time it was dark out, Luffy took out his blanket from one of the bubbles keeping it safe, and wrapped it around himself, looking at the night sky, hoping that the next day would end his waiting. He was growing tired of it. He had stopped staying down all day, and on some days didn't come down at all.

The people at Sabaody were laid back, and even the officers who enforced the laws on the island left him alone. He stayed in an unpopulated area, so he wasn't bothering anyone, and he was perfectly polite to others, even if he stole things sometimes. But he never hurt anyone or broke any serious laws. Sabaody Archipelago was a convenient place to be stuck on. It was a place he knew the Whitebeard Pirates would visit some day.

The next morning, Luffy debated going down at all before he heard shouting from below his tree. He saw Reighley on the ground, beaming at him up in his little nest. Luffy couldn't hear what he was saying and was wondering what the man was so happy about.

"What?" he called down. Reighley just pointed to the left. Luffy looked in that direction and beamed. There it was. The thing he'd been waiting to see for two whole years. Luffy slid down the tree's thick and slippery trunk, saying nothing to Reighley and sprinting away.

Luffy was in a slight panic mode as he sprinted into town on his way to the ship. What if they missed him and he'd been waiting in vain, missing his only chance? What if they didn't want him back, or had forgotten all about him. It had been a long time ago, after all. And they must have moved on from his "death" like he had his parents and brother.

The town was busy, regardless of the strongest man in the world being docked there. Then Luffy saw him. The giant who'd become his second father. He saw Marco's strange haircut as well. Luffy pushed through the crowds, crying as he shouted for papa.

"Papa! Marco, it's me!" Luffy cried as he got closer. He knew he looked a lot different and probably didn't give off the warm feeling he used to, but if he got them to just listen to him for only a second, maybe they would recognize him.

He grabbed for Marco's hand, but Luffy probably just looked like some homeless kid grabbing his hand. Luffy's hair was long enough to block some of his face if he hadn't moved the hair away from his eyes. Marco shook his hand off, and Luffy was swallowed into the crowd again. But he didn't give up.

"Papa!" he screamed, but the man didn't hear him at all. Luffy turned to the left and ran off and pulled out his sharp spikes that he kept for creating things, not hurting anyone. There were no predatory animals on this island.

He stabbed the sharp blades into the soft tree trunk and climbed his way up, shoving the tools into one of his pockets, bouncing from one tree's bubbles to another. He made his way around until he saw Whitebeard and Marco standing still at a vendors booth. He took a deep breath and jumped.

" _PAPA!"_ he screamed as he fell, landing on the giant man's shoulders. On instinct, Whitebeard grabbed his small body and flug it off of him like he was nothing. But Luffy wasn't hurt and picked himself up easily. "Papa! Do you remember me?!" Luffy shouted as he ran towards the captain. Whitebeard's face was blank in shock. Luffy grabbed onto his pant leg. "It's me! It's Luffy! Do you remember me?!" he practically begged for papa to remember him. "I know I look different now, but it's me!"

"Luffy?" Marco asked in shock. Luffy smiled in hope. They remembered him!

"Yeah! Yeah, it's me!" Luffy shouted, tears running down his cheeks. He blinked in surprise when Whitebeard fell to his knees, grabbing Luffy and pulling him close, tightly.

"Of course we remember you, Luffy," he said, getting choked up. But then, when he pulled away, he frowned at what Luffy looked like. His wings were gone, his back completely flat. He was dirty and his hair was longer and shaggy. Whitebeard was furious that someone had stolen Luffy's beautiful wings, but that would have to wait.

"Are Ace and Sabo here, too?" Luffy asked in hope. He missed them the most. "They're here, too, right?"

Marco stood from a short distance with a big smile he rarely wore. Luffy was alive. That little boy they'd picked up was not dead. Marco hadnt found Luffy's remains that terrible day because he wasn't there. Somehow, he had gotten away. Well, seeing his wings were gone, meant that he was probably abducted. By that ship that set their home on fire. They cut off Luffy's wings. He wanted to kill them each painfully.

He turned around and walked through the crowd, looking for those that had lost their smiles.

Ace and Sabo walked down the path between all of the booths, both eating a skewer of chicken and beef. Neither looked happy or even content. Just bored and slightly angry. They always had that look ever since Luffy had "died".

Marco walked up to them with a smile. "Hey grumpy brats. Pops and I got a surprise for you." They both glared at Marco. Even Sabo had lost his politeness over the two years. Now, they mostly interacted with others in fights or sparring. The only time they could forget the pain of knowing Luffy burned to death some place inside their home. They didn't know where. Hell, he could have burned to death in their own room. But they didn't like thinking about that.

"What." Sabo said with a frown. Why would he be smiling? It was extremely uncharacteristic. Marco said nothing, just lead the teens to where Whitebeard was standing with a boy. Ace and Sabo started to grow angry. Were they finding a replacement for Luffy? They knew it had been two years, but still. There should never be anyone younger than Ace and Sabo. Not after Luffy had been on that ship with everyone.

"Luffy, look at who is coming over," Whitebeard said to the eight year old. Luffy turned around and saw Ace and Sabo coming nearer, both looking slightly angry. Luffy wondered why. He left Whitebeard behind as he sprinted across the grass and flung himself at both of them, one arm wrapped around each neck. Luffy started to cry.

The teens were shocked when the random human kid jumped them. They almost threw him off until they heard him say, "I MISSED YOU!" and the hug got tighter. Both teens looked down at the messy hair of this boy much shorter than them.

"L- Luffy…?" Ace whispered. He looked at Luffy's back. No wings. But this voice belonged to Luffy. Luffy pulled his face away, and Sabo and Ace saw the face they'd missed so much. They burst into tears. They couldn't help it. He looked the same as he had two years ago besides the scar on his face and the absence of wings. They couldn't focus on how furious they were with the beautiful things missing from his back.

Marco and Whitebeard watched from a short distance. Marco had never seen his father and captain shed any tears, even when Luffy had "died". Then, he just had a horrified look on his face, also filled with despair. But no tears had fallen. He needed to stay strong for his family, especially his next youngest children, who were never the same after the fire.

"We missed you, too, Luffy. So much it physically made us sick for so long. We're sorry we werent there to save you. So sorry," Ace said softly, his voice breaking. Sabo tightened his hug around them.

"Maybe then we could have saved your wings," Sabo mumbled miserably. Luffy shook his head.

"It doesn't matter anymore. I waited for you here for two years. I never even thought about leaving to go anywhere without you. I guess it was the right thing to do, right?" Luffy asked, trying to get them off the subject of his missing wings. "My wings won't ever come back, so there's no use in thinking about them… I don't even miss them anymore. So everything is okay."

"Okay, Luffy. Let's all go home. Your family missed you," Sabo said with a true smile, something he hadn't doned for years. "You're back, and things will be like they used to be. I know it will."

"Good!"

The three walked to their father, holding hands like they used to, Luffy still short in between both older boys. Things were okay now. And they'd never separate again. They'd make sure of that.

 **I hope everyone enjoyed this story. It was hard writing some of it because it was sad, but that was what I was going for anyways. Thanks for reading!**


	8. Alternate Extended Ending

**Hey again. I wasn't planning on posting the alternate/extended ending to this because I don't think I'll finish it, but I've gotten multiple reviews asking for a longer ending and this is what I have from first writing it. It starts right after Luffy asks if Ace and Sabo are with Whitebeard and Marco after being reunited with the captain and first mate.**

"Yes, little one, they're both here. Let's go to the ship. Everyone will be so happy you are alive!"

"They all think I'm dead, don't they?" Luffy asked sadly, sitting on Whitebeard's broad shoulders. He was still very small compared to the man. Luffy's papa sighed and nodded his head sadly. "But I'm not. Those bad guys faked everything and cut off my wings and threw me overboard." Whitebeard gave off a scary, furious aura. "I didn't feel it, though, which was good," Luffy quickly added, not liking Whitebeard being angry.

"We'll talk about the negative aspects later. Let's just relish in the feeling of reuniting after so long."

"I waited for everyone. I stayed up in a tree so I could see if home sailed here," Luffy said quietly. "I'm going home, right?"

"Of course!" Marco said, finally over his shock. "There's no way we wouldn't care about you being alive! Ace and Sabo… the light will come back in their eyes." Luffy frowned. Poor Ace and Sabo, thinking Luffy had burned to death. Did they do a candle funeral, too? For him?

When the three reached the ship, Luffy had tears in his eyes. He'd never been so happy to see something than he was for this ship. It was repaired perfectly, no hint of a fire turning it to ash at any time.

No one recognized Luffy as he followed Marco through the ship. After all, Luffy looked like a regular human now, and didn't give off the warmth he had as a younger child. When he was still that bubbly little kid almost no matter what.

Marco didn't knock on Ace and Sabo's room, just threw the door open. It was dark inside, both sitting on the bed and talking, dark looks on their faces. They glared at Marco opening the door and letting light in so suddenly. They couldn't tell who this ragged kid was. Then they heard, "Hi Ace… Sabo."

The two teenagers looked at him in shock, much like Whitebeard had. Then Ace got up and slowly walked over to his little, missing brother. _Dead_ brother. He touched Luffy's face and shoulders, making sure he was real.

"Luffy?" he asked, voice breaking. Luffy nodded, soon enveloped in the biggest hug he'd ever felt.

"I missed you guys," Luffy said, causing both teens to burst into tears of relief and joy. Their little brother hadnt burned to death like they'd thought. He was back. Sabo joined the embrace and then all three were sobbing.

"Where have you been?" Ace asked through his tears. "We thought you were dead!" He gripped Luffy tighter. Luffy frowned, upset they all thought he'd died painfully. Those hunters had done a good job of convincing Luffy's family of his death.

"I was kidnapped on the ship of those people who killed mommy and daddy and Usopp, and they cut off my wings and threw me over the ship. They only cut them off 'cause I made them mad… Then I swam for a little while until Reighley saved me and somehow got me to Sabaody. I don't know how he did it, and since I got here, I've been waiting for everyone to come. I'm homeless right now, like you guys were. But I want to come back," Luffy finished. "I missed everyone so much…" he said sadly, a few more tears slipping down his face.

"I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to come back to you. I made everyone really sad, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but forget about all that. You're back and alive, that's what matters. Matters so much. Life has never been the same after we thought you were dead. I don't remember truly smiling since you were gone. Things were so much… darker. It's hard to explain," Ace said.

"Like how I felt when mommy and daddy and Usopp died, too?" Luffy asked. He had a feeling he knew how his brothers had felt for all that time.

"Yeah. We were lonely. There was no one to take care of and teach, nothing fun besides beating our stress out on bad guys or animals in the forests. We're also sorry we went on trips with the commanders and left you alone… maybe, if we had been there, we could have done something. Then you'd still… have your wings," Sabo answered.

"It's okay. I'm not upset about losing my wings anymore. I was really sad at first, but things actually got easier without them, though I don't like the scars. At least no one came after me when they weren't there anymore," Luffy assured them. "There's nothing anyone can do about it now, though."

Everyone looked at Luffy, somewhat sadly. He was different now. He wasn't cute and clueless like he used to be, and was actually using reasoning. But, what did they expect? He'd been traumatized again, and homeless and alone. He'd grown up, and they knew it'd be inevitable, but they'd miss the bubbly Luffy. But, they were more glad to have him back than miss his old personality. He also had better grammar. They wondered who had taught him more.

Marco and Whitebeard knew some of the others would miss Luffy's warm feeling. Why did it leave? Was it tied to his wings, or something else? The two adults left the room, telling the three they'd tell everyone the news later, when Luffy was present. Until then, Ace and Sabo had the floor with Luffy.

"You need a haircut," Sabo said, running his hand through Luffy's long and shaggy hair.

"And a bath," Ace added. Luffy's eyes lit up at the thought of a bath. "It looks like you turned into us. I'm sorry that had to happen," the freckled teen said.

"I didn't hurt anyone or fight for anything. I just stole money from pockets and paid for things. I did sometimes steal clothes. And my little fort wasn't nearly as cool as yours. I wish it had been!" Luffy exclaimed happily. "I'm so happy I'm back! Did everyone miss me?" he asked, his happy tone turning to one full of sadness.

"Yeah. Everyone was devastated for while. No one was happy for months, and even after that, things werent the same. We missed you every day. We had a big candle funeral. But, you should be happy to hear we kept your bee," Ace said with a soft smile. "We couldn't get rid of it."

"Yay! I'm happy about that. If I lost my wings, and my tie to mommy and daddy and Usopp, at least I have the stuffed animal they got me," Luffy said somewhat softly. "Will things go back to how they had been?"

"I sure hope so," Sabo replied. He couldn't stop looking at Luffy. He looked a lot different, but also the exact same as he had been at the same time.

"So what have you two been doing while I was away?" Luffy asked curiously. If they had felt how Luffy had when he lost his family, then Ace and Sabo had to have done something to distract themselves from the pain and grief of the loss of the dear little brother.

"Training non-stop. I also found a Devil Fruit and ate it," Ace said with a grin.

"Ooh! What is it?" Luffy asked excitedly. Instead of answering, Ace just held up his hand and lit his fingers on fire. Well, they became fire. Luffy gasped, shouting out how cool it was. Sabo and Ace smiled at him, lad that the boy was so happy to be back with his lost brothers. "It's called the flame-flame fruit. I can turn into fire and manipulate it now!"

"Manipulate?" Luffy asked, not recognizing the word.

"I can control it. Plus no one can injure me!" He then turned to Sabo. "Hit me with the pipe over there." Luffy watched in curious excitement, wondering why Ace would want to be hit hard by Sabo's pipe. But when the pipe should have nailed Ace painfully on the side, the pipe went right through Ace.

"WOW! That's amazing, Ace!" Luffy shouted. "It's like magic," the youngest boy said. "What about you, Sabo?"

"I've been training in haki. Watch this," Sabo said with a smile, looking forward to Luffy cheering him as well. Sabo held out his hand, and suddenly it was coated in black. "You can touch it, it won't hurt you," Sao told Luffy, who walked over and poked it before sliding his hand across the silky and slipper surface.

"What is it?" the younger boy asked.

"It's called 'armament haki'. It makes punches really strong. Plus, I can use observation haki. If I focus enough, I can feel where others are around me, and how strong they are. It's been harder for me than the other type, which everyone says is strange. I bet there's someone outside. I'll try and focus on him…" Sabo said, closing his eyes.

"So cool!" Luffy cheered in joy. He was so happy to be back! Right then, it felt as if he'd never left. But then, suddenly Sabo fell down on the bed, unconscious. "Sabo?!" Luffy panicked.

"Sabo, what's wrong with you?" Ace said in worry, going over to his brother, who was now snoring quietly. "He doesn't have what I have, so why is he sleeping..?" Ace wondered, not concerned since he was snoring and didn't look in pain, but it was weird.

"Why is he so sleepy? Or does that haki thing make you sleepy?" Luffy questioned. "He's okay, right?"

"Sabo!" Ace shouted in the blonde's ear. He jolted upright, banging his head into Ace's, who cried out in pain.

"Eh? What happened?" Sabo asked, sounding very sleepy. "Wait!" Sabo shouted suddenly as he stared at Luffy. Ace continued to swear colorfully, angry that Sabo had been able to hit him at all. "Luffy, are you very happy?"

"Yeah! I'm super happy to be back!" Luffy shouted with a grin. "Sabo?!" he cried as Sabo fell down again, knocking Ace to the ground.

"Sabo, you jerk, stop it!" Ace shouted from under the other teen. Ace bonked him on the head painfully, waking his brother up, this time not getting hit by him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"It's Luffy! He's making me fall asleep," Sabo said in confusion. "Luffy, don't feel super happy right now. Try and feel content. You are calm and happy you are home, but things are quieting down and you are now relaxed."

"Okay, I'll try," Luffy said, his smile suddenly gone, and he looked a little sleepy with his relaxed face. "I'm quietly happy now." Sabo looked at him curiously, and then grinned.

"You're giving off that feeling again, Luffy. It looks like it gets stronger when you are very happy. You haven't been happy in a long time, have you?" Sabo asked, sounding a bit sad. But he was right, and Luffy nodded with a frown.

"Being alone… there was nothing fun about it. And waiting for so long was boring, so what was there to be happy about? Does this mean I can't be happy anymore without people falling asleep?" Luffy didn't want to not be allowed to be happy. "I like being happy."

"Well, I'm sure that the others with better control over their haki will be fine. But you use it against bad guys, Luffy," Sabo told him with a grin. "You have your own power, too."

Ace spoke up. "Why would he be super happy being around bad guys?" That didn't make sense. Sabo put his hand on his chin in thought.

"Hmm… well, you could learn to control it. I'm sure some of the commanders or even pops would be able to help you.

 **Probably won't be finished, but this is the alternate ending.**


End file.
